Hyderabad: Although the credit for the invention of the game goes to England, they were never able to lift the ODI World Cup in the history of the sport till 2015. They managed to win only a single T20 World Cup in 2010 but the English outfit was still struggling to establish themselves as a champion side.
After a devised plan by the English team management, a new page in the history of the sport was flipped as England not only won the 2019 ODI World Cup but also started dominating white-ball cricket.
The credit of the transformation was to their novel approach to adopting the 50-over format by being aggressive. The English batters wreaked havoc on venues across the globe while their immense batting depth troubled opponents. Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, which begins at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. England is one of the favourites and many expect them to defend their title in the upcoming edition under the leadership of Jos Buttler.
The defending champions start their campaign against New Zealand.
Strength
England has built a fearsome batting unit in recent years which includes batters like Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone, who can pummel the opposition attack to submission on their day. England can opt for an ultra-aggressive opening combination by sending Jonny Bairstow to the top. The batting unit also looks balanced as Joe Root and Harry Brook can play an anchor role while others can manage a run riot.
Also, the number of all-rounders present in the side takes batting deep down the order. Thus, top and middle-order batters can have the freedom to free their arms without worrying about the innings collapsing in case they depart. Plus, the English side has a part-time versatile spinner like Liam Livingstone, who can turn the ball both ways.
Weakness
Too much aggression is always a double-edged sword and it can draw England's batters into throwing away their wickets in pursuit of a higher run rate. Although Indian pitches are likely to be flat, they might slow down as the tournament progresses. In such a scenario, lofting the ball through the air would be dangerous.
Also, tackling the spinners is going to be an essential skill in the World Cup and England still remains untested in that area. So, attacking spinners on Indian surfaces might not be a very wise option for them. Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone are going to handle the spin department but only Rashid is the specialist spinner. So lack of one more specialist spinner might affect them while going ahead into the competition.
Opportunity
After making waves in Test cricket, it will be the biggest opportunity for young Harry Brook to make his name by scoring a lot of runs. He has an average of 62.15 in Test cricket but the same metric goes down massively in the ODIs where he averages just 20.50. But, the World Cup can be his biggest chance to prove his mettle and score a plethora of runs.
Threat
England have won only 26 ODIs from 66 fixtures they have played in India and the win percentage is only 39.39. The main reason behind this is England batters struggle against spin bowling. This can trouble them a lot against subcontinent teams as they have a quality set of spin bowlers. Also, heavy reliance on Adil Rashid in the spin department might affect the team's performance.
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