Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to England's loss to Afghanistan in 2023 World Cup ft. Nasser Hussain and Aakash Chopra
Afghanistan infused life into the 2023 World Cup by stunning defending champions England at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
The Afghans also flipped narratives following their 69-run win. After they lost their first two matches against Bangladesh and India by big margins, the talk was about how Afghanistan aren't as big a campaign spoiler as they were made out to be.
On the other hand, England's thumping win over Bangladesh made many forget about the hammering that New Zealand gave them in the World Cup opener. Their issues against spin and with the new ball were ignored.
Now the cricketing world is buzzing again with a variety of opinions floating around. We have curated the top five of those from pundits for you:
#5 "No wiggle room now" - Nasser Hussain
Former England captain Nasser Hussain recalled how he had predicted Afghanistan to cause one big upset in the tournament but didn't expect it to be against England.
He suggested Jos Buttler's men be a bit more ruthless now.
"For Jos Buttler's team, there is no wiggle room now," Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. "They have to win every match from here on if they want to keep the defence of their title in their own hands."
"That means them playing their best XI and acting as if every game, starting with facing the in-form South Africa in Mumbai on Saturday, is a World Cup final. That means Ben Stokes has got to come back in if he is fit. I sincerely hope England were not holding him back here thinking 'it's only Afghanistan," he added.
Hussain recommended Buttler to drop Chris Woakes and play both Ben Stokes and Harry Brook. Woakes went wicketless against both New Zealand and Afghanistan and is yet to contribute much with the bat either.
#4 "They have not hit the ground running" - Michael Atherton
Another former England captain Michael Atherton felt one of the reasons behind the shock defeat was the lack of ODI preparedness for some of the teams.
He said their bad start to the match, including Buttler's sloppy 'keeping allowing five wides on Woakes' first ball, meant that they were always behind Afghanistan.
"England haven’t bowled well enough and teams have got off to fliers against them. There are reasons. Many of the players are undercooked in terms of cricketing time, time in ODIs. But they have not hit the ground running and have made things very difficult for themselves now. I think England started badly today," he said on SKY Sports.
"They were sloppy. Five wides to start, Curran giving away a free hit in the early overs. A misfield from Bairstow that went for four. They just looked a bit off the pace and that set the tone. They were always chasing the game from that point on," Atherton added.
Even after the shoddy start, England looked like a team more suited to the T20 format. The bowlers kept trying a lot of variations instead of holding one good line. Buttler got good contributions out of Liam Livingstone on Joe Root and Adil Rashid picked up three wickets too but the pacers never really controlled the run-rate.
Afghanistan were clinical in their planning and looked to have studied all these intricacies carefully. For example, in the powerplay, even when they were taking on Chris Woakes and sAM Curran, they played completely risk-free against left-arm seamer Reece Topley, who had picked up four wickets in the previous match.
#3 "Most of them are pretty one-dimensional" - Wasim Jaffer
Former India opener-turned-pundit Wasim Jaffer made unequivocally questioned England's 'Bazball' approach. He called England's batters "one-dimensional", saying they were more suited to flat wickets back home and looked lacking against spin.
"Most of them are pretty one-dimensional," Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo. "They go pretty hard but if the pitch is not to their liking, this is what can happen. And if teams are stacked up with spin... I had my doubts on how England batters [would] play against spin and that was on show today. They need to think really hard about how they want to play spin in India and improve quickly."
The quality of the spinners also proved to be a big difference. Although Liam Livingstone and Joe Root picked up a wicket each and were economical, Afghanistan's combination of Mujeeb ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi took at least two wickets each and accounted for eight out of 10 wickets together.
#2 "Sam Curran is not even looking 50-50" - Aakash Chopra
Former India opener Aakash Chopra said he was surprised when Jos Buttler opted to bowl first at the toss citing dew because there was no dew when India played Afghanistan at the same venue.
Reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, he said (1:30):
"In such a case, if you have batting depth like England and you say that you will score 350-400, then bat first. They forgot that England's bowling is looking extremely ordinary. Reece Topley did well in one match. Chris Woakes is looking 50-50. Sam Curran is not even looking 50-50, he is looking even more ordinary than that."
But Chopra also said that England. will "find a way" to qualify nevertheless with their batting coming into the picture better and covering for their weak bowling lineup.
#1 “England are now hanging by a thread" - Steven Finn
Former English pacer Steven Finn said there might be a sense of panic in the dressing room after the defeat.
“England are now hanging by a thread in this competition," he said said on BBC Test Match Special. "There are going to be a lot of meetings, a lot of conversations and a lot of head scratching over the next 48 hours.
“They’re going to have to pick themselves up because they are not technically out of the tournament. But they’re going to need to change something and change it quick if they’re going to compete against the best teams in the world,” he added.
Finn further called Woakes a "liability" and said the team could no longer rely on Curran to provide batting depth if they want to progress in the World Cup.