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Here we are, then: a final group stage encounter at
Eden Gardens, and most likely a final World Cup encounter for both of these
teams. In terms of title defences, it was England’s worst-ever experience, on
par with previous fizzle-outs in cricket as well as maybe all of sport. For
example, consider France’s 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign or Lleyton Hewitt’s
Wimbledon first-round departure the following year. Between their only two
World Cup victories, England’s campaign was marred by six losses, many of which
were hammerings. One of those losses was so bad that it might have prevented
them from winning the 2025 Champions Trophy.
England’s cricket strategy has been high-risk,
high-reward for the past eight years or so; after seeing such success with
white-ball cricket, the dangers seemed to finally catch up this time. It seems
like that style calls for players to fully commit, and that calls for
confidence, which can only come via performance.
However, they have the opportunity to end a miserable
tournament on something of a high note against Pakistan. It is possible that
several members of current England team won’t don an ODI shirt in the future,
especially not during a World Cup, thus it makes sense that Pakistan will be
their final opponent before they are most likely to be parted ways. Since the
2015 World Cup, England has won 14 of the 18 ODIs that have been played,
including a then-world record total of 444 at Trent Bridge. This English team
has outperformed all others against Pakistan. This is your last chance to play
the classic hits.
In Pakistani cricket, hope is the last thing to go,
therefore players continue to dream despite the almost overwhelming odds
against making it to the semi-finals. It’s not ideal for Babar Azam’s team to
be in this situation, even though England hasn’t played well in the
competition. To qualify, they must defeat England by roughly 290 runs. Their
campaign has been a dismal reflection of their 2019 tournament; they have lost
just enough games to trail New Zealand in net run rate (NRR). They needed to
beat Bangladesh in an equally unlikely match to win the championship that year.
It’s unlikely to happen now, just as it didn’t happen then.
In order to surpass New Zealand at this point, a
miracle and a persistent dedication to forward-thinking cricket are needed,
something that Babar, in all his years leading Pakistani cricket, has quite
bluntly failed to instill in his team.
In the worst case scenario, he may accomplish what
Pakistan did four years prior and emerge as the greatest of the rest. Based on
the facts of their cricket playing, the evaluation won’t precisely be unjust.