World Cup countdown: England's ODI transformation in last the 4 years

The 2019 World Cup is less than a month away and all teams are looking to give the final touches to their preparations. The tournament will be held in England this year — the fifth time after 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999. Albeit hosting the tournament more than any other nation, England has never won it and finished as the finalists on three occasions. They lost to the Windies in the final of 1979 by 94 runs after a colossal collapse while a crunch-time misapplication by skipper Mike Gatting saw English side lose the final of the 1987 tournament to Australia by seven runs. In 1992, it was Imran Khan’s Pakistan that defeated the Three Lions by 22 runs in the final. Between 1996-2015, England was mostly winning against low-ranked teams England. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images) After making the finals thrice in three decades, England was considered among the best teams that had never won the trophy. But since Graham Gooch’s side lost that Melbourne final in 1992, England’s World Cup story had only gone downhill. Between the 1996 and 2015 editions, England played 38 games of which they won 18, lost 19 while one was tied. But the striking part is that of those 18 wins, not too many had come against top teams. England beat the Netherlands (thrice); Kenya and the Windies (twice each); Canada, Scotland, Afghanistan, UAE, Namibia, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa (once each). While England lost to Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand (thrice each); India and Bangladesh (twice each) and Pakistan and Ireland (once each). They gave a walkover to Zimbabwe once and tied with India in the 2011 edition. The Three Lions were certainly found wanting when it came to locking horns with big teams and could only make the quarter-finals as their best performance (1996 and 2011). Since 2015 World Cup, England have been winning against every team Adil Rashid of England celebrates with Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler after taking the final wicket. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) Since they crashed out of the World Cup in 2015 following a humiliating loss to Bangladesh, England have seen a big transformation. Thanks to their domestic T20 tournaments and the evolution of batsmen, who can hit baggage-free and bowlers who can pick wickets. England is now a unit which is not lazy as were the earlier ones and is hungrier for wins. Since the 2015 World Cup, England has won 53 of the 82 matches they have played while lost only 23 (six did not see results) and now are going into the tournament as the No.1 team in the format. Eoin Morgan the first captain to lead England in two consecutive World Cups Eoin Morgan. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) England has picked a squad for the World Cup which sees an amalgamation of capable batsmen and bowlers. Although Alex Hales’ exclusion at the dying moments is a blow for England, one believes it will not be a problem for somebody else to fill his shoes since they have a rich talent pool in the limited overs now. Moreover, England will be led by Eoin Morgan, who has been in charge for some time now. Stable captaincy has been an issue for the Englishmen in the limited overs for a long time but Morgan has been around for some time now, granting a stable leadership. He will be the first man to lead England in two consecutive World Cups and playing in his third edition as a player. So, quite some experience at the top there. England’s batting has come of age Jos Buttler. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) England’s bowling is also strong this time and has a fair mix of seamers and spinners. In home conditions, they can prove to be a potent lot. However, it is England’s explosive batting line-up which is their biggest asset now. A poor strike rate has always been a challenge for the English top order with some of their biggest names failing to accelerate when required. But not with the Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow. They can hit mercilessly. In fact, three of the top team scores in ODIs at the moment belong to England at the moment with the highest of 481 for 6. England looked a disorganised pool of talents in the past World Cups who did not click as a unit. The nation had also been known to be a better player in Tests than ODIs. But the 2015 exit saw them rethinking the entire scenario and they made the right use of the time in the last four years, thumping and blasting all big teams in the process. England’s only big challenge could be home pressure and overconfidence. But capitalising on those two factors would depend on how well their opponents’ strategize against the English. Join CricTracker on Telegram. Match Predictions, Fantasy Guides and other handpicked stories every day. Subscribe to our Telegram channel.

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World Cup countdown: England's ODI transformation in last the 4 years

England has hosted the quadrennial event more than any other team — 5 times — but never lifted the cup.

Since 2015 World Cup, England have been winning against every team

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