World Cup 2023: Unbeaten India face deflated England in battle of contrasts

Unbeaten India led by Rohit Sharma will take on defending champions England, who are reeling at the bottom of the points table on Sunday in Lucknow with a match full of runs and some assistance for spinners on the cards. Writes Meenakshi Rao.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): A red-hot and in-form team India have flown into Lucknow from Dharamsala with an eye on sealing a spot in the semifinal after a victory against New Zealand. The defending champions England, on the other hand, are struggling to rise from the ruins in this World Cup, figuring almost at the bottom of the table.

Between the two lies a red soil pitch full of runs and turns later in the day, a 50,000 crowd to give an electric atmosphere to the Sunday clash and a result that is being perceived as a foregone conclusion. For India, the absence of all-rounder Hardik Pandya due to an ankle injury has led to a change in the winning combination, with pacer Mohammed Shami sealing his place in the playing eleven with a thumping five-for against New Zealand after cooling his heels on the bench for a couple of matches.

World Cup debutant Surya Kumar Yadav, too, will be raring to go after a disastrous runout in his first match at Dharamsala. Skipper Rohit Sharma and his batting deputies have been polishing off the time in the middle, not having to test their lower middle order. Star batter and former skipper Virat Kohli, who has acquired a celestial halo as the champion chaser, fell just five runs short in the previous match to equal the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record 49 ODI centuries. He will be looking to do so at the Ekana stadium in a World Cup that has been a tonners’ haven even as the chirp around “flat good or turning bad wickets” has been gaining momentum.

This match will also be crucial for young rockstar Shubman Gill, who has not returned with usual fire after his dengue break. He returned to score just 26 against Pakistan, 53 against Bangladesh and 36 against New Zealand. A big score from him will be timely against England, with India having three more league matches to make a concerted statement on the top of the table. For now, Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid would be mulling over which quick to drop for accommodating the third spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin as the Lucknow wicket is known to aid spinners later in the day. Then, considering that Mohammed Shami has left no ball unturned to remain in the playing 11, Mohammed Siraj may give way.

England, a team that has virtually no stakes remaining in this World Cup, will be playing without fear and the talk of this being a free-hit match for them punctuated the pre-match presser addressed by assistant coach Marcus Trescothick.

“I don't know if free hits can make a difference. We were going into the last game with everything in order. Then we didn't show the standards of performance. Now, we've got an opportunity against a big team in their own country, where the atmosphere is going to be electric. So, if you're not excited and up for the game like that, then great. You know, this is an opportunity to do so,” he said.

England has lost four games on the trot in this tournament and a second from the bottom on the points table, virtually out of the tournament. Trescothick even said that this would be a good practice session for the upcoming Test series. Under the circumstances, with all already lost, England's big hitters should look at this opportunity as a hunting trip with big runs. Coming against the table-topper hosts in their own country would give the Poms a semblance of positivity in their dismal subcontinental outing.

But then, they will be up against the likes of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has returned from injury with added muscle, precision and the ability to put the squeeze on batters if, that is, he is not busy taking an early scalp haul. Added to that is the return of Mohammed Shami, who knows is in no mood for laxity, the never-say-die attitude of Kuldeep Yadav and the possible return of R Ashwin on a surface that slowly turns in the favour of spinners.

Till then, all roads lead to Ekana stadium on Shaheed Path where a nothing to lose syndrome may just give the long-awaited trigger of a run-fest that England joins to make at least one big statement on their early flight back home.