Pressure on England ahead of Bangladesh tie

After being knocked out from the 2015 World Cup following a defeat to Bangladesh, English cricket has gone through a revolution, culminating in their first World Cup triumph at home four years later. According to the troop of English media who have travelled to India to cover the matches of the defending champions, the England team are well aware of the probable threat from Bangladesh at the world stage.

There was a sense of seriousness during the team meeting as the England cricketers were about to start their warm-up session yesterday, ahead of their second fixture against Bangladesh on October 10 in Dharamshala.

"The defeat to Bangladesh in 2015 was an infamous one for England, which eventually changed the entire English cricket and I am sure England won't take you guys lightly at all. Obviously there are a few dangerous players in the Bangladesh team but if you compare the XIs of the two sides, we expect England to win this game. So that itself is a bit of pressure for the England side," Simon Burnton, who works for The Guardian, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The England team management is seemingly worried about the team's lack of options in the opening slot. Jonny Bairstow, who will play his 100th ODI against Bangladesh opened alongside Dawid Malanin their match against New Zealand. These two are the only options England can rely on to open the innings at the moment.

Malan got out for 14 runs while Bairstow scored 33 in that game against the Kiwis. If one of these two batters suffer an injury at some stage of this competition, the English think tank may opt for either Ben Stokes or Jos Buttler to open the innings.

While the nine-wicket thrashing by New Zealand on Thursday came as a huge blow for England, the outfield of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium is adding more concern for the defending champions.

The journalists covering the event in Dharamshala were barred from enter the ground yesterday as groundsmen were busy preparing the outfield, which came under the microscope during Bangladesh's opening game against Afghanistan on Saturday.

Players from both teams found it difficult to field on the patchy surface. Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was lucky to escape without a serious injury after his left knee stuck into the sandy outfield when he put in a dive during their six-wicket defeat to Bangladesh.

The poor condition of the Dharamshala outfield remained the main talking point among the members of the English media. It was also learnt that the England team management has decided to rest Stokes, who did not play against New Zealand, against Bangladesh too as the all-rounder is still recovering from a knee injury.

While England will be under some sort of pressure to get their World Cup campaign back on track, Bangladesh will have slight psychological edge following a comprehensive win in their opening match.