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Every big game comes down to a few critical individual duels, and the upcoming clash between England and India at Edgbaston on Sunday will be no exception. For England, this is a high-stakes game they simply cannot afford to lose, especially after slipping up in their recent outings against Australia and Sri Lanka. India, meanwhile, is in a much more comfortable position; they've already secured enough points to likely make the semifinals, despite having played fewer games than most teams so far. With that in mind, let's dive into the specific player matchups that are most likely to sway the result of the match.
We haven't seen the Indian opener and the English speedster go head-to-head in international cricket yet, but they've crossed paths in the Indian T20 League over the past few seasons. In those encounters, Jofra Archer has clearly had the upper hand against Rohit Sharma. It's a small sample size—only four balls bowled across two league editions—but Archer managed to get Sharma out twice, conceding only two runs in the other two deliveries. This gives Archer a psychological advantage heading into Sunday. That said, Sharma has been hitting the ball well throughout this World Cup, so it'll be interesting to see if he can finally figure Archer out.
Virat Kohli generally performs well against England, boasting a solid average of 44.48, but he'll still have to navigate two distinct threats at different points in the game. First, there's Chris Woakes, who is lethal with the new ball. If England can break through the opening partnership early and bring Kohli to the crease, the stats suggest he'll need to be cautious. In their ODI history, Kohli has scored 79 runs off 85 balls against Woakes, but he's been dismissed three times and faced 52 dot balls, making this a very tight contest. Even if he survives Woakes, Adil Rashid poses a different kind of danger. Rashid has troubled Kohli recently, taking his wicket twice in ODIs while giving up only 49 runs in 57 deliveries—including 21 dots.
Joe Root is currently in peak form during the 2019 World Cup, having already notched a couple of centuries. He also played a starring role the last time these two teams met in England. With an ODI average of over 50 against India, he's the man India will be most desperate to get out early. The key to stopping him likely lies with the spin pair of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. However, Root seems to handle them well; out of 124 balls faced against the duo, he's scored 110 runs and has only been dismissed once. While Root enters this game with the momentum, a single great delivery could still change his luck.
Written by: Prasenjit Dey