3 reasons behind England's poor form in ODIs
With the ODI World Cup lined up for later this year, defending champions England will be looking to defend their crown in India. After clinching their first World Cup title in their own backyard in 2019, the England side will be aiming to join the West Indies and Australia as the only sides to successfully defend their crown.
However, things haven't been smooth sailing for the champions more recently in the ODI format. England has won only two of their last 11 One Day Internationals, a stat that doesn't bode too well for the side.
The defending champions will want to start turning things around sooner rather than later with one eye on the World Cup later this year. For now, let's take a look at three potential reasons behind England's poor form:
#1 Retirement of key players
After suffering a shock exit from the World Cup in 2015, Eoin Morgan quickly transformed his England side into world champions. He took charge of implementing not only an exciting but also a successful brand of cricket, for which the rewards came along.
Along with the captain, Ben Stokes cemented his legacy as one of the greatest all-rounders after his match-winning performance in the 2019 World Cup Final. However, England has been without the services of these two players in recent times.
After an extended lean patch, Morgan called it quits on his international career. At the same time, Stokes announced his retirement from the ODI format, citing workload management as the main reason behind it. The absence of two of the most influential personalities in the squad might have played a part in the team's recent poor run.
#2 Injuries
Ever since taking charge of the team as captain, Jos Buttler has had to deal with some injury issues in his squad. Already dealing with the absence of Morgan and Stokes, the new captain will be thankful for the abundance of white-ball resources they have in the country.
Their first-choice opener Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out because of his freak injury, with Liam Livingstone also sitting on the sidelines. Mark Wood is also recovering from a hip injury and hasn't played a lot of 50-over cricket recently.
Jofra Archer returned to the side in the ongoing series against South Africa but his workload is expected to be managed carefully throughout. Hence, the team has been missing key players more often than not, which hasn't done them any favors.
#3 Constant rotation
Constant rotation in team selection has become the norm in modern-day cricket, with players finding it impossible to keep up with the demands of all three formats. England has done well in this regard, especially since the appointment of Rob Key as managing director for the ECB.
After England won the T20 World Cup Down Under, they were scheduled to play a three-match ODI series against the hosts. The series went on as planned, however, a number of players from the T20 World Cup earned a well-deserved rest.
The team went on to lose the series 3-0 but made sure they gave plenty of opportunities to upcoming players. Their constant rotation hasn't given them the right results in the bilateral series, but to their credit, they usually get it spot-on when the big tournaments come around.