Before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, defending champions England would have looked at their Australia fixture at the Narendra Modi Stadium and would have probably envisioned this being one of the crucial games in their campaign. That game is near, tomorrow, in fact, but the setting is completely off for Jos Buttler and Co. They are virtually are out of the tournament, with none of their batters or bowlers in form. But, they can still salvage something out of this game – wounded pride – after all, it’s a game against their storied rivals, Australia, you are talking about.
Australia, on the other hand, have dug themselves out of a precarious situation but they are not yet in the safe zone by any means. They would love to puncture an already flattened England, but far more importantly they have an eye on the knockouts and cannot let up at this stage of the tournament.
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Two losses at the start of the tournament and lessons well taken – that’s Australia for you. However, they have hit a major roadblock. Two genuine match-winners – Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell – are out of this crucial fixture, and skipper Pat Cummins has to switch to Plan B.
Cummins called the absence of all-rounders Maxwell (concussion) and Marsh (flown home due to personal reasons) as ‘not ideal’ for this significant clash and he is left to choose his best 11 with the 13 available.
“It’s not ideal. Yes, both have been star players of the tournament so far at different times. So that’s the way it is. We knew at the start of the tournament we were going to need a full squad of 15. And yes, I’m not even sure we’ve played the same 11 two games in a row through injury or selection. So, it’s kind of unfortunate, but we knew over a two-month tournament you’re going to have to chop and change a bit,” Cummins said during pre-match press conference.
A week back Maxwell stood up tall at the Arun Jaitley stadium, Delhi with a major milestone under his belt – fastest ODI World Cup hundred. A week later, he had a freak accident leading to concussion falling off the back of a golf cart. Now you call it unfortunate or his continued affair of getting weirdly injured – ultimately it’s a big blow to Aussies. But, Cummins is hopeful that Maxwell will be back soon.
“Maxi’s hopefully fit for the clash against Afghanistan, so he’ll just miss this one,” said Cummins, adding, “But he trained well yesterday and is still taking it day by day, but hoping he’ll just miss this one (England match).”
On the other hand, Marsh’s sudden trip back home has raised some concerns but Cummins is hopeful for his quick return. “Mitch we’ll wait and see – he’ll definitely come back. I don’t think it’ll be a super long trip back home to Perth but yes, the main thing is he’s back home and we’ll give him as much time and space as he needs.”
England left Playing for Pride
If you ever want to see how not to defend your title – England can be the best case study. They did everything least expected from the World Cup champions. But will the match against Australia (in top 4) just be a consolation win for England (bottom most)? Obviously, not! It’s a matter of pride.
England will try their best to bounce back after a 100-run loss to India in their last encounter, but it is easier said than done. England’s dismal performance has ‘surprised’ Cummins, but he is wary of the calibre this England line-up still has.
“A little bit surprised, they’ve obviously got some class players and performed really well in these kind of tournaments over the last few years. A little bit surprised in terms of what’s gone wrong, probably not for me to say, these tournaments are pretty fickle. You see it in T20 tournaments around the world, sometimes the best-looking teams just don’t start off well and then find it hard to kind of gain ground.
…they’re going to be dangerous tomorrow. You’ve got to be careful of any team with that kind of calibre of players,” said Cummins.
The rancorous memories of last Ashes still reside in Aussies’ hearts and Cummins would love to feed on it and get their thunder on.
“That (Ashes) was a couple of months ago. It’s done. It’s a new game, new tournament. But I always think a little bit of healthy rivalry is good, especially our playing group, we’re quite a chilled, calm group, so sometimes when we get a little bit more fired up, I actually don’t think it’s too bad a thing,” said Cummins.
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