3 mistakes England made in their crushing 2023 World Cup defeat to India
How has it gone so badly wrong for England in the 2023 World Cup? The defending champions came into the tournament as one of the clear favorites to reach the knockouts, but they're in an unprecedented position.
England are dead last in the standings, with only one win from six matches. They've been found wanting in many departments and now face a race to secure qualification for the next edition of the Champions Trophy.
Jos Buttler and Co. have committed several errors over the course of their dismal World Cup campaign, and that didn't change against India on Sunday. They were off the mark on all fronts as they succumbed to their fourth loss on the trot.
Here are three mistakes England made in their crushing World Cup 2023 defeat to India.
#3 England went in with an unchanged side
After a humbling eight-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, England were expected to ring in at least a couple of changes for the India contest. But they decided to go in with an unchanged side, a decision that didn't yield dividends.
Harry Brook, who made an impressive half-century on a turning track against Afghanistan, was dropped immediately after that innings and didn't find a place in the XI against India as well. Gus Atkinson, who bowled decently on his maiden World Cup appearance, didn't play either.
Sam Curran and Brydon Carse were also in line to be out on the pitch against the home side, but England went in with the same combination. Having Brook and Curran in the side, in the particular, would've helped their chances of getting back in the win column.
#2 Jos Buttler didn't bowl out his main men
By virtue of having a couple of additional bowling options, England didn't get the most out of their main men.
Chris Woakes was excellent throughout the first innings, in perhaps his best outing of the World Cup so far. Despite that, he didn't bowl out his quota of 10 overs. Neither did Mark Wood, whose pace and aggression fetched him a wicket and some dangerous moments.
Instead, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali bowled 12 overs between them, exceeding the fifth bowler's quota even though they produced barely any wicket-taking opportunities.
It might seem like only two overs, but it could've made a massive difference to the total had Buttler used his resources more economically.
#1 England played too many shots against the moving ball
There was only one way to survive and score runs in Lucknow on Sunday - hang in there against certain balls that beat the bat, and attack those in the slot. Rohit, in particular, executed that perfectly.
England, however, were way off the mark and terribly impatient. They seemed rattled by the Indian fast bowlers' relentlessness, and a couple of balls that beat the bat were enough to make them play rash shots.
Ben Stokes' hoick across the line was arguably the worst shot of the World Cup so far, while Joe Root decided it was a good idea to shuffle across against a bowler of Jasprit Bumrah's skillset.
Moeen Ali played an expansive drive off the first ball of a new Mohammed Shami spell to nip a promising partnership in the bud. Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow both played on while trying to force the ball through the off-side even when the shot wasn't on.
England needed to stay calm and get through the tough phase since the required run rate was never a great problem, but they lost their heads and perished.