India and England have collided 8 times in ICC World Cups. While the Asian powerhouse ran away with victory four times, the English won three while one match ended in a tie.
When the two sides meet at Lucknow's Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, it is a contest between sides on either end of the point table. While the defending champions have hit rock bottom, sitting behind the Netherlands and Bangladesh, India is the only undefeated team in the tournament.
The Rohit Sharma-led side has hardly put a foot wrong, having chased successfully for five games in a row. On the other hand, the Three Lions' boom-or-bust approach has not worked in Indian conditions and the defending champions find themselves on the brink of an embarrassing exit.
England also have a fair amount of concerns on the bowling front with their stand-out pacer Reece Topley being ruled out of the tournament due to injury. Brydon Carse has replaced him in the squad. Mark Wood has been far from his best and will be looking for course correction.
However, the spin of the combination of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid could pose a threat to the in-form Indian batters.
The team also has not been able to find a settled combination, having made three changes in the last two games. Harry Brook did not play the game against Sri Lanka.
"When you're in different conditions and different places to play different games, you're always trying to find an edge. You're trying to find a difference where you think, is this a pitch that we need three seamers or is this a pitch where we need three spinners and match it up that way?," said assistant coach Marcus Trescothick on Saturday.
"The batting has been pretty consistent, obviously Ben Stokes coming back in and Harry Brook changing. So, I think you've got to adapt. I don't think you can go through any World Cup or any big competition with the same 11 players," he added.
Ahead of Sunday's India vs England contest, here are a few things that you need to know.
India vs England ICC World Cup 2023 Pitch Report: A batting-friendly pitch by nature, spinners are known to get assistance here as the game progresses. In the usual scenario, India would have used R Ashwin alongside Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. But the absence of Hardik Pandya makes things complicated. It needs to be seen if India will stick with Shardul Thakur in an effort to make up for missing the star all-rounder.
India vs England ODI World Cup 2023 Weather Forecast: Lucknow is expected to witness a pleasant weather on Sunday. The maximum day temperaure is expected to be around 31 Degrees Celcius. By nightfall, the temperature may fall as low as 16-15 Degrees Celcius. It is highly unlikely that the UP capital will get any showers tomorrow.
India Playing XI (probable): Rohit Sharma(C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(W), Ravindra Jadeja, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravi Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England Playing XI (probable): Dawid Malan, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler (C & W), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid
-With PTI inputs
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