India's bowling attack is particularly good in home conditions. That's going to be the key... If any team can break this bowling attack then only India can be put under pressure.
Thing is they WERE put under pressure by both Pakistan and Bangladesh top orders. However Indian bowlers can put pressure on you for 50 overs. As Sloandog mentioned, there is no relief bowler you can target. Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Ashwin. Even their 6th 7th bowlers like Pandya and Shardul are very handy if not necessarily world class. And then the batting is probably second best after the Saffer lineup.
Yes I agree, they were more so under pressure from New Zealand as well but still came back strong.
Line up with more fire power like England and South Africa can pressurize India's attack though. Those are the kind of batting line ups that relentlessly attack unlike Bangladesh, Pakistan Or New Zealand who lack fire power in the middle.
The single redeeming feature about this terrible World Cup is that England are so bad.
They've got a massively ageing side. I'm surprised some of them have been offered three year and two year contracts, especially Malan and Mark Wood. They need to have a massive injection of youth now. Banton, Jack's, Lawrence, tongue etc all need regular exposure now. This is still an excellent ODI side but they've had their day. There's 4 or 5 I would ax, much like Liam Plunkett in 2019
The single redeeming feature about this terrible World Cup is that England are so bad.
More than halfway through the group stage and even Netherlands has a mathematical shot at making the semis. Not really possible in say the 2007 format - which also has a TON of lopsided games featuring the 6 associate sides.
Don’t get me wrong it’s been very poorly organized. From the late release of schedules to poor outfield in certain venues. Also very little hype and build up…almost seems intentional by BCCI to keep the shine on IPL. None of the games have been close either.
That being said the tournament seems to be very competitive. In theory the top 4 could all win though India and SA seem a cut above NZ and AUS. On the flip side the other 6 teams could all finish dead last. You can’t beat that for parity. And you never know who’s going to upset whom next.
The single redeeming feature about this terrible World Cup is that England are so bad.
More than halfway through the group stage and even Netherlands has a mathematical shot at making the semis. Not really possible in say the 2007 format - which also has a TON of lopsided games featuring the 6 associate sides.
Like I said, in a parallel universe if netherlands shocked SA in the format of 2007 we would've been talking about SA's elimination by now.
That is what makes a tournament exciting and not the race to who can finish dead last in a 10 team round robin stage.
Aside from the actual stupid league-style format, it's also just way too long. Fuck me. We are only half-way through the group stage and it feels like it's been going on for a month already. Ridiculously long-winded.
The fact that England have been dogshite and lost 4 matches and yet still mathematically have a (very) small chance of somehow qualifying is a joke too. They have been terrible. They should be eliminated and on the plane home by now after these performances.