England will be looking for a much-needed two points when they take on the high-flying Indian side in the 29th match of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday, October 29. Indian team is set to enter the game as favourites having won all five games while England are heading into a must-win match at Lucknow's Ekana Cricket Stadium.
India are sitting in the second position with 10 points and the defending champions struggle at the bottom with one win in five games. But the Men in Blue are unlikely to tinker with their winning combination despite playing after a break of six days.
India's first-choice wicketkeeper KL Rahul also hinted at the same playing combination for the England game and also confirmed Suryakumar Yadav's inclusion in the playing eleven.
"So not having him (Hardik Pandya) is also a bit of a miss for the team," KL Rahul said during the pre-match press conference in Lucknow. "But it's unfortunate what happened. And yeah, we also at some point have to look at that and the present is that he is not available for this game. Surya will probably get his chance and we know what Surya can do. So, our confidence is in Surya till Hardik comes back."
Rahul also talked about India's strategy ahead of a crucial game for the semifinal race. Notably, India's five wins have come while chasing and they lack the experience of batting first in the recent game. Rahul said that the batting first will be a good challenge for the team to test their preparations for all conditions.
"We have not really gone too much into it. So whatever opportunities we've gotten we've done well but again it will be a good opportunity if in the next four games if we can get to bat first. It'll be a good challenge for us to just see how to pace the innings and it's been some time since we've batted first," KL Rahul added.
India's probable playing XI vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
