World Cup 2019: England struggling with fitness issues to key players ahead of India game

England were the hot favourites when the World Cup started. Not anymore. Their campaign is in shambles at the moment after losses to Sri Lanka and Australia. Eoin Morgan‘s men have lost three matches out of seven, all while chasing a total and clearly, they are under immense pressure now. England will have to win their next two matches against India and New Zealand to guarantee a semi-final spot. But injury concerns of key players aren’t helping either.

Adil Rashid reported soreness in his right shoulder after the Australia game and for the same reason, Liam Dawson was included in the World Cup squad at the eleventh hour ahead of Joe Denly. He will now be assessed in the next few days and is expected to be available for selection on Sunday.

Archer also not 100%

Even Jofra Archer complained of a tight left side and only played the Lord’s encounter against the arch-rivals after passing the late fitness test. However, both Rashid and Archer didn’t have a great outing as they returned with the figures of 0/49 and 1/56 in 10 and 9 overs respectively.

To make things worse, even Ben Stokes, who has now played two outstanding knocks in defeat, sustained tight calves while batting and the physio had to attend him multiple times. Fortunately for England, he has been already declared for India match according to Cricbuzz.

If not for the twin losses they’ve suffered, the hosts would’ve loved to rest the likes of Mark Wood, Archer and even Rashid for that matter. Chris Woakes is also injury prone but has held up fairly well so far in this tournament while the team is still waiting for Jason Roy to return. However, there was good news in that regards with the opener recovering successfully from the hamstring tear.

England have missed Roy badly in the last two matches and there is a possibility that he might return for the crucial game on Sunday. Another loss, will put England’s chances of making it to the top four in jeopardy and Morgan would love to beat India to avoid any such embarrassment.