3 things England need to do right to beat India in 2023 World Cup clash

Team India and England will kick off their much-anticipated battle on a Super Sunday in Lucknow on Sunday, October 29.

Winners of two of the last three ODI World Cups, the two sides have been on the opposite end of the spectrum in the ongoing edition. While the Men in Blue have been dominant on expected lines, winning all five games of their campaign, Jos Buttler and company have been a colossal disappointment.

Boasting some of the biggest names in white-ball cricket, they have slumped to losing four of their first five games and find themselves at the bottom of the points table. Pitted as among the favorites pre-tournament, England have failed to live up to the lofty expectations, thanks to a lack of clarity in team composition and dismal performances with bat and ball.

Nevertheless, there is still a mathematical chance of England finishing in the top four and qualifying for the semi-final. However, the task has become arduous, with the side having to win their final four games by a considerable margin and hope for a slew of other results to happen in their favor.

For starters, they will have to derail the Indian juggernaut in front of a packed Lucknow crowd to garner any hopes of staging a comeback.

England can take solace from their 4-3 record against India in ODI World Cups, with a thrilling victory over them in the previous edition in 2019. Yet, Rohit Sharma's men have emerged victorious in three of the last four meetings between the sides in ODIs.

With that in mind, let us look at three things England must do if they are to hand India their first defeat of the 2023 World Cup.

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#1 Top order has to lay the platform for a final flourish

Jos Buttler has struggled with the bat due to his early arrivals to the crease.

While much of the blame for England's shambolic showing in the World Cup has been laid on the toothless bowling, their batting struggles have reared their ugly heads in the last three encounters.

Their batting issues are glaringly obvious when looked at on a per-game basis. For a team that relies heavily on its batting depth and firepower in the lower middle order, England's 'Bazball' approach has cost them dearly.

Barring the Bangladesh outing when the openers Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow added 115 for the first wicket, England have struggled to get off to solid starts.

The defending champions have not had a single 50-run opening partnership in the other four games and have found themselves four down for less than 100 in three of those outings. This has meant the likes of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone have had to resurrect the innings instead of providing the finishing touches, resulting in the duo enduring dismal campaigns.

Buttler has been the biggest disappointment, with only 95 runs in five games at a paltry average of under 20, while Livingstone has totaled 31 runs in his four innings. While the duo are to be blamed, their struggles stem from the no-shows of Jonny Bairstow ( 127 runs @ 25.40) and Joe Root ( 16 runs in his last three innings).

On a Lucknow pitch that has offered assistance to bowlers, England can ill-afford another top-order collapse, exposing their one-dimensional power-hitting lower middle order.

Instead, the focus should be on laying a foundation even if the run rate isn't as high as desired for their power hitters at the back to unleash.

England had similar issues in their 2-1 home series loss against India last year, with scores of 110, 246, and 259, thanks to them being four down inside 100 in all three instances.

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#2 Play both left-arm pacers David Willey and Sam Curran

The left-arm pace duo has to make early inroads into the Indian batting lineup.

For England to have any chance of what would have to be called an upset on current form, they must dismiss the Indian top order cheaply. Skipper Rohit Sharma and the in-form Shubman Gill have been riling off 50 and 100 partnerships for fun in ODIs at a rapid strike rate.

However, the one Achilles heel for the top three - Rohit, Gill, and Virat Kohli has been their susceptibility to left-arm pacers in helpful conditions. Evidence of that was the now-injured Reece Topley picking up six and three wickets in the final two ODIs of last year's home series against India.

Despite his injury, England still boasts two potent left-arm new ball swing bowlers in Sam Curran and David Willey. While the duo have inspired little to no confidence with their bowling prowess thus far in the tournament, the Lucknow pitch has been the most pacer-friendly among the venues.

The likes of Marco Jasen, Lungi Ngidi, and Kagiso Rabada had the ball talking against Australia at the very venue. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins replicated the same during their crushing win against Sri Lanka at Lucknow.

With Virat Kohli averaging an astonishing 118 and Rohit Sharma over 65 in the ongoing World Cup, England's only hope for victory is picking up the top three within the first 15 overs.

Apart from the bowling, playing Willey and Curran together will further lengthen their struggling batting lineup.

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#3 Make the most out of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid's wood on Virat Kohli

Ali has spun a web around King Kohli across formats.

It is not commonplace to find Virat Kohli enduring repeated struggles against an off-spinner. Yet, England's office Moeen Ali has tormented India's superstar batter in ways very few have in his illustrious career.

Considering Kohli's impact on winning and his impeccable current form, Jos Buttler should bring on Ali immediately upon the arrival of India's No.3. While Ali has dismissed the 34-year-old on six occasions in the red-ball format, he also got the better of him three times in ODIs, with the batter averaging less than 30.

Add to that the one dismissal in T20Is, Ali has got the better of Kohli an incredible ten times in international cricket.

With the champion batter in the form of his life with 50+ scores in four of the five games in the World Cup, dismissing Kohli is a non-negotiable for England. Kohli is also the fifth leading run-scorer in the tournament with 354 runs and has already helped India emerge triumphant in three tricky run chases.

Along with Ali, Rashid has also found success against King Kohli, dismissing him nine times across formats, including seven in white-ball cricket.

While Kohli averages much more against Rashid compared to Ali, the duo has troubled the star batter on numerous occasions.

Unfortunately for England, the spin duo hasn't hit the ground running in this World Cup, but Buttler will hope that the match-up against one of the best batters in the world can ebb them up.