World Cup 2023: Defending champions England losing first up isn’t good omen

An England team without batting belligerence lacks aura, needs to reclaim that hallmark after Kiwi mauling

The curse of the 90’s came back to haunt England as they lost, chokeslammed by New Zealand in the World Cup opener at Ahmedabad. Over the past decade and more, teams have been carrying the aura of being defending champions successfully at the start of the next campaign. Australia won in 2019, India beat Pakistan in their first game in 2015 and Australia, again brushed aside Zimbabwe’s challenge in 2011 as previous winners.

England's Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali look dejected after the match (REUTERS)

Defending champions being toppled, first up was a thing of the 90’s. Australia were famously beaten by New Zealand in 1992. Sri Lanka had lost some of their edge when they lost their opening match to England in 1999. In both those tournaments, previous winners didn’t make the knock-out rounds. But England would like to think of it as a statistical quirk. They have come a long way from being an abysmal ODI unit that they were during those times.

“Yeah, disappointed. Completely outplayed. But the first thing that springs to mind is whether you lose by a run or a defeat like that, it is one loss at the start of a very long tournament,” said England captain Jos Buttler. In the public eye, England may call it nothing more than just an aberration. But behind closed doors, when they sit to introspect, they would know, the lack of intent with the bat was glaring. Quite unlike this England side.

One would have thought Jonny Bairstow, of all people, would have come out to stamp his authority in the first afternoon of the competition against Trent Boult, who despite shifting ends was struggling to find any swing under the hot Ahmedabad sun. If Dawid Malan is the innings builder and so is Joe Root, isn’t Jason Roy’s big batting blade being missed here? Or if Harry Brook is the one given the licence to thrill, shouldn’t he be batting in the top three, when Ben Stokes isn’t fit?

Pushing the boundaries, except on pitches that turn big or are very slow, may become a regular feature in this World Cup. New Zealand’s left-handers showed just that. Both Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra came all guns blazing and did so right through their 273-run unbroken stand.

Buttler, England’s most destructive T20 batting force in the powerplay, himself comes out to bat in the middle-order in the ODIs. Against New Zealand, he walked in at No 6, pushing for a death overs onslaught but didn’t last long enough. Ultimately, a side that boasts of batting depth till No 10 ended up with a total comfortably below par. Buttler admitted they finished 40-50 runs short of where they would have liked to be. The way Conway and Ravindra drove their team home with 82 balls to spare, even that may not have been enough.

Finishing second best on a square turner or against a fierce spell of new-ball bowling is one thing. To not bring your characteristic strength—batting intent into play, speaks of a tactical error. Letting any self-doubt creep in at the batting crease is something a belligerent batting unit would want to guard against as they prepare to face-off against Bangladesh next in a day game at Dharamshala.

Then, it’s also a matter of waiting for a big show from Stokes, who by all accounts will have to manage his battered body; knee, hip et all, right through the campaign. “You know, we just didn't go on and finish our batting innings as we would like. Everyone in our team getting into double figures and we didn't have enough really telling contributions,” said Buttler.

“In international cricket when you're a little bit short and the opposition played very well, you're going to lose the game of cricket. So, there's plenty of stuff for us to work on and get better at the start of a long tournament. As I said, it's one loss. It's a tough one, but we'll be better for the next one.”