Lucknow, Oct 28: India and England have played with contrasting approaches in the World Cup so far, producing contrasting results. And that is unlikely to change here on Sunday.
India are on course to top the league stage while England are looking to survive in the tournament they won four years ago.
The Rohit Sharma-led side has hardly put a foot wrong, having chased successfully for five games in a row.
England set the benchmark in white-ball cricket with their uber aggressive style of play, resulting in global triumphs in both the shorter formats.
However, the boom or bust approach has clearly not worked in Indian conditions and the defending champions find themselves on the brink of an embarrassing exit.
Compared to England, India have very little to worry about though they will be missing the all-round services of Hardik Pandya for at least the next couple of games.
In the usual scenario, R Ashwin would have replaced Shardul Thakur on a pitch that is likely to assist the spinners. However, Pandya’s absence forces the team management to play only five bowlers.
Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja walk into the combination for Sunday’s game.To accommodate Ashwin as the third spinner, India will have to choose between Mohammad Siraj and Mohammed Shami, who asserted his world class credentials with five wickets in Dharamsala. Picking between the two proven performers will be a tough call. Helped by Rohit’s bold intent in the powerplay, the Indian batters have set the ideal template for rival teams to follow. India have mastered the art of chasing, whether they are in cruise control or in a pressure situation like they found themselves against Australia.
In Pandya’s absence, Suryakumar Yadav is the team’s choice at number six. Following an unfortunate run out in his first game of the competition, the X factor player will be itching to make an impact.
The chatter on Shreyas Iyer’s perpetual struggles against the short-ball has resumed following his dismissal in Dharamsala. He will be fired up to prove his doubters wrong.
Shubman Gill, who missed the first couple of games due to dengue, is due for a special knock. The Lucknow crowd could also witness a record equalling 49th hundred from Virat Kohli.
Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who is from Uttar Pradesh, will be looking to fox the England batters at the state-of-the-art stadium here. It was a good test for him against the rampaging Daryl Mitchell and he will be ready for the England challenge.England posses plenty of firepower in the batting department and they would be hoping to string together a worthy performance after a string of abject failures.
Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook. They are all formidable names in world cricket but have found the going tough in very familiar conditions.(PTI)
