Unstoppable India face deflated England

Lucknow: India and England have played with contrasting approaches in the World Cup so far, producing contrasting results. And that is unlikely to change here on Sunday.

India are on course to top the league stage while England are looking to survive in the tournament they won four years ago.

The Rohit Sharma-led side has hardly put a foot wrong, having chased successfully for five games in a row.

England set the benchmark in white-ball cricket with their uber aggressive style of play, resulting in global triumphs in both the shorter formats.

However, the boom or bust approach has clearly not worked in Indian conditions and the defending champions find themselves on the brink of an embarrassing exit.

Will Ashwin get a game?

Compared to England, India have very little to worry about though they will be missing the all-round services of Hardik Pandya for at least the next couple of games.

In the usual scenario, R Ashwin would have replaced Shardul Thakur on a pitch that is likely to assist the spinners. However, Hardik's absence forces the team management to play only five bowlers.

To accommodate Ashwin as the third spinner, India will have to choose between Mohammad Siraj and Mohammed Shami, who asserted his world class credentials with five wickets in Dharamsala.

England game opportunity for SKY and Shreyas

Helped by Rohit's bold strokeplay in the powerplay, the Indian batters have set the ideal template for rival teams to follow.

India have mastered the art of chasing, whether they are in cruise control or in a pressure situation like they found themselves against Australia.

The chatter on Shreyas Iyer's perpetual struggle against the short-ball has resumed following his dismissal in Dharamsala. He will be fired up to prove his doubters wrong.

Will England change their batting approach?

England posses plenty of firepower in the batting department and they would be hoping to string together a worthy performance after a string of abject failures. Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook.

They are all formidable names in world cricket but have found the going tough in very familiar conditions. Going hammer and tongs from ball one is the need of the hour in the shortest format but the demands of the ODI format are different.

England batters must gauge the conditions better and accordingly alter their way of playing. They all love to whack the ball through the line but the Lucknow pitch might not allow them to do that.

Root is one batter who have different gears, others need to follow him and show some patience when required. 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. (PTI)