EOIN’S FIRED BY ENGLAND SHOWDOWN
ENGLAND are delighted at the chance of a winner-takes-all clash with India tomorrow, because it is perfect World Cup preparation.
India will chase their fifth successive series win over England at Headingley, befitting their status as perennial World Cup favourites.
But if England can beat them in a series for the first time since 2011 it would be a huge feather in their cap a year out from the next World Cup.
And to do it in a one-off game – the sort of which England will need to close out in 2019 – would be the best possible outcome for a bilateral series that could have been a damp squib without a Joe Root inspired win at Lord’s.
“Winning this series is so important,” said skipper Eoin Morgan (above). “They are a really strong side – as we saw in periods at Lord’s and particularly at Trent Bridge, so to beat them in series would be very significant.
“You do need to have these winner-takes-all contests, it helps with experience and playing in pressure games.
“I am not a huge fan of bilateral series so having a game like this is crucial for us. I prefer a tri-series with the context that brings. Every game brings something different with significance on it.
“The World Cup format has changed with the round-robin so you have a lot of games you have to turn up and do well on the day – so this will be like one of them.” Root’s first hundred in any format this summer has given England a timely boost ahead of five Tests in six weeks with every chance that left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav may feature there too.
And the news that all three recovering England fast bowlers, James Anderson, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad, are returning to action over the next week is just as positive.