India vs England: Can Morgan's squad stop Indian juggernaut?

As India continue with its unbeaten streak, hopeful England will look to climb up the points table

England’s World Cup campaign has now reached a ‘do or die’ situation. After facing a humiliating defeat from the strong Australian side, England is in the state of backlash. After losing to Australia by 64 runs at Lord’s, England have been facing a lot of criticism from the fans as well as from British media. And now the Englishmen will be facing the only unbeaten team of the prevailing Cricket World Cup, India on June 30^th at Birmingham.

Two-time champions India stood on the cusp of securing a spot in the Cricket World Cup semi-finals after they stretched their unbeaten run in the tournament with a clinical 125-run victory against West Indies that eliminated the Caribbeans on Thursday. Opting to bat first, India's middle order did not exactly cover themselves in glory but skipper Virat Kohli's elegant 72 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's laboured 56 not out helped them to a competitive 268-7 at Old Trafford.

Mohammed Shami and his bowling colleagues then returned to skittle out West Indies for 143 in 34.2 over as India jumped to second place in the standings after registering their fifth win in six matches with one no result. They lie one point behind holders Australia, who have played one more game. West Indies became the third team after Afghanistan and South Africa to be eliminated after their fifth defeat in seven matches.

From the clash of England-Australia, it got perfectly summarized the World Cup myths of these two completely different teams, one is a five times World Cup champion that has naturally risen towards the big stage and on the other side, England who never managed to clinch the World Cup trophy.  

When Buttler was seen slogging, dejected England fans were there to witness the dream of shattering their maiden World Cup win and at the same time, the game slipping away from the fist. And to put to shame the English side in England itself, Australia has managed to reclaim their aura to become the very first team to reach into the World Cup semi-finals and become the World Cup favourites.

Strengths that England owns

Before losing to Australia, England was ranked as the number one team in the world that undoubtedly kept the team full of confidence.

Having this charm of being world number one came from England’s astonishing batting line-up, the bowlers with a constant speed of 144kph, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes and the inclusion of stellar spinners like Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. This combination of bat and ball made them a team that was difficult to let down by anyone.

What England might be planning?

Albeit they are on the verge of getting out of league from the tournament, we must know England’s oddly predictable plight. It is crucial to take this point into the account that England are still in a position to make a comeback and enter into the semi-finals.

One should not underestimate the fact that England held to the number one spot for a period of two years, it is a team that is still unbeaten at home in ODI series in a span of four years. You never know but the tables are likely to turn if the team comes with a solid Plan B. Eoin Morgan has correctly said after Australia defeat, “We are in charge of how we go from here on in.”

But in this changing situation, England is hoping to get back injured opener Jason Roy who is currently suffering from a hamstring injury and has already missed three games. There are also some fitness concerns for bowlers Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid, but England will look to fetch in these star players no matter what against India at Edgbaston.

England needs to think about the opening partnership as James Vince and Jonny Bairstow might not be able to kickstart the innings on a good note. Therefore, Indian bowlers will be easily able to break the initial partnership in a jiffy.

Considering Ben Stokes’ form, he might be a threat to India as he has scored 82 and 89 in the last two matches. Therefore, he can make the middle order strong and keeps it steady.

England needs to seek the struggle that they are facing while chasing. The skipper needs to chalk out a plan that would attain a perfection level for the Englishmen while chasing.

Concern over India’s middle order

We all have seen how India’s middle order is struggling to score runs in the middle overs as Dhoni’s form is a bit of a concern. Though he made sure to finish the innings against West Indies with a big hit, he started off really slow that brought down the run rate to almost three.

Same goes with the all-rounder Vijay Shankar. Though he is a replacement for Shikhar Dhawan, he is not able to perform as he has scored 15, 29, 14 in three matches. If India needs to buckle up in the middle order then the skipper should decide to fetch in Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant instead of Shankar, or at least shuffle the middle order a bit. But now it all depends on the skipper what he decides.

Pitch Report

There is no rain forecast on Sunday and the fans will be able to happily enjoy full 100 overs. Since it is going to be sunny even before the match, the game is going to have more pace since it is going to be hot in Birmingham and sun will make sure to bake the surface which will make it better for the batting conditions and will surely suite the England hitters.

India, as we all know, is known to be a good chasing team, but here in this tournament, India opted to bat first whenever won the toss. Considering the Englishmen while chasing, then they are struggling for that. Therefore, Indian skipper will surely look to bat first if he wins the toss. Also, it may not be practically possible for any team to score more than 300 runs even as fans expect that. The reason behind this is that England is experiencing a lot of heat from last many days due to which the wickets are becoming slow and as a result the ball is not coming on the bat, making it difficult to pull a shot.

Therefore, Englishmen are ready with their plan B and will be out there to give their best as this match against India will give them semi-finals hope. And India, on the other hand, sets a target of 250 or above, it is going to get difficult for any team that faces the World Cup favourites, now, be it England.