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England's ace batter Joe Root believes they must avoid panicking despite a crushing defeat in the 2023 World Cup opener to New Zealand on Thursday, October 5, in Ahmedabad. The right-handed batter reckons England can still win the World Cup as they did in 2019 after hitting numerous roadblocks.
The Kiwis gave a nine-wicket hiding to the defending champions, chasing down 283 in only 36.2 overs. On a slow track, New Zealand used the conditions well and restricted England to 282. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra followed it up with unbeaten centuries as Sam Curran managed the only wicket to fall.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, the Yorkshire batter suggested that England will go harder in the coming match and reiterated the notion of staying calm.
"It's always easy to look at things when they don't quite come off, but it enforces the way we are as a team and we want to go about our cricket in that way. We won't be seeing guys chipping it to mid-wicket or mid-off next game, they'll be hitting it 20 rows back," he said.
"It's important that we stay calm. Look at us in 2019, we had hiccups throughout. When we do hit a bump in the road, we are a team that comes back strong and we double down on our identity," he added.
Root's form with the bat was arguably the biggest positive for England in the game as he top-scored with 77. Nevertheless, the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, and Jos Buttler failing to convert their promising starts into big scores hurt England considerably.
"The conditions just changed considerably" - Joe Root
Joe Root reflected that the conditions became significantly easier for batting despite thinking 282 could be just about enough. The former Test captain added:
"I don't think there's ever been a World Cup-winning side that hasn't had a bump in the road or a stumble along the way. We've just got to stay level and authentic to what we are as a team. On that pitch, after we batted, I thought we were about par or maybe just below. But the conditions just changed considerably."
Jos Buttler and Co. will next face Bangladesh on Tuesday in Dharamshala.
