England suffered an embarrassing defeat to Sri Lanka on Thursday. With that, it is unlikely that they will defend the World Cup. Nevertheless, they can still make a statement by doing well against India on Sunday. Some changes could be needed in the playing XI. Here, we take a look at three popular England cricketers who could be dropped for the team’s next game against India.
1) Joe Root
Joe Root will be England’s best bet on pitches that spin. However, the Lucknow pitch is not behaving the way it did in IPL 2023. Hence, Root can be dropped from the squad.
At No.3, he is failing to keep the batting unit together. He is consistently losing his wickets at crucial junctures. England will want to arrest this and they could try a different option against India.
2) Chris Woakes
Chris Woakes is one of the popular England cricketers who could be dropped for the team’s next game against India. He features against Sri Lanka on Thursday. However, he was not that impressive.
On Indian pitches, Woakes is not someone who can rely on. That has been proved already. Lucknow might be the right place to bring back Sam Curran. He is someone who needs to be trusted and if he turns up well, England could win the match.
3) Dawid Malan
Malan has had a rough outing so far. While he has played well in some games, he has been very poor in others. Jonny Bairstow cannot be dropped and hence, Malan might face the axe.
The likes of Harry Brook are doing well. He had opened before the World Cup and it may not be a surprise if England has a similar role for him in the next few days. It will be interesting to see how he performs if he gets it as it could also be a signal of the future.
