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India have reached a stage in the 2023 World Cup where they can afford to stat-pad a bit. Even if they lose all their remaining five matches, they'll still have an outside chance of reaching the semi-finals. And because of the tournament's format, finishing anywhere between No. 1 to 4 doesn't make a difference.
England, on the flip side, are at a place where records hardly matter. They have lost four of their five matches and even if they win five of five, their semi-final chances are negligible.
All that matters for the defending champions is a bit of pride but a few good milestones might give their fans something to cheer about.
On that note, let's look at three milestones to watch out for in today's match:
#3 Shreyas Iyer could be the fastest non-opener Indian to 2,000 runs in ODIs
Stats-wise, India's No. 4 batter Shreyas Iyer has had a slightly underwhelming 2023 World Cup so far. Although India's top order has mostly laid nearly winning foundations for him and he batted according to the situation, Shreyas only has one half-century in the tournament so far.
Still, the right-hander is quite close to a commendable record. He has 1,931 runs from 47 ODIs. If he scores 69 runs today, he'll become the joint-second-fastest Indian to score 2,000 ODI runs alongside Shikhar Dhawan. He'll also be the quickest non-opener to it, breaking Sourav Ganguly's record of 52 innings.
The fastest overall is Shubman Gill, with the opener recently reaching the landmark in only his 38th ODI innings.
#2 Jos Buttler could be the first English wicketkeeper to 5,000 runs in ODIs
England's captain Jos Buttler has had a forgettable 2023 World Cup so far. He hasn't scored a half-century in the five matches and the buck of England's troubles have stopped with him and his choices as the leader.
The wicketkeeper-batter has something to cheer about though. If he scores 82 runs today, he'll become only the fifth Englishman to reach 5,000 runs in ODIs and only the first wicketkeeper from the country to do so.
The previous top-scorer was Alex Stewart, who scored 4,017 runs from 132 innings between 1989-2003.
#1 Rohit Sharma is just shy of 18,000 international runs
At this point, there's no doubt about the legendary legacy of Rohit Sharma's ODI career. But as he plays more and more in his arguably final phase, he's getting closer and closer to massive milestones which put him alongside other greats.
Currently, he's at 17,953 runs after 476 innings across formats. Forty-seven more runs will make him only the fifth Indian batter to score 18,000 international runs for India after Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly.
