Before the ODI World Cup 2023 started, it was predicted that England and India would win every match. The ‘Men in Blue’ have been on a roll, winning three games in a row, but the reigning champs have only picked up one win in their first three. Before making a winning start against Bangladesh, England suffered a crushing defeat to New Zealand in their opening match. But in their most recent match against Afghanistan, England suffered a shocking defeat, falling short by 69 runs. To continue to be in the running for a spot in the semifinals, they must string together a couple victories.
The players have not turned into awful people only because they lost to Afghanistan in the current ODI World Cup, according to opening batter Jonny Bairstow.
He also gave the Afghan cricketers appreciation while pointing out that they are not weaklings.
There’s a reason the men won the T20 World Cup the previous year, and there’s a reason the men won the 2019 World Cup, and we’re the defending champs. ESPNcricinfo cited Bairstow as saying, “Just because we lost a game to Afghanistan doesn’t make us horrible cricketers or anything like that.
“You check [Fazalhaq] Farooqi’s IPL record; you check the records of the three spinners they have. They are certainly not amateurs just because they represent Afghanistan. They actually have some of the top players in the world and match-winners. We didn’t play well enough to win that game, and we’ve accepted that and moved on from it, he continued.
There is no doubt about England’s batting prowess, in my opinion: Jonny Bairstow
If England’s batting still has the capacity to dominate bowling assaults like they did in previous years, the seasoned wicketkeeper-batter was questioned about it. According to Bairstow, there hasn’t been much of a shift in their capability and the firepower cannot be questioned.
“I actually don’t think that much has changed, has it? You should consider our batting lineup’s strength in depth. The firepower, in my opinion, cannot be questioned, Bairstow added.
On Saturday, October 21 in Mumbai, England’s next game will take place between South Africa and England.