England vs India ODI 2022: can England bounce back in time from their worst defeat in 11 years?

England’s ODI side are reeling, following a 10 wicket defeat at home to India.
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It is something that all England fans are used to - that predictable sigh when it inevitably comes back to bite us.

We have recently been treated to not just one miracle, but four miracles in four matches and so we began to believe we were on top of the world once more.

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However, reality hit back and did so in the most catastrophic fashion.

It was supposed to be England to shine once again with the white-ball, and to put their Twenty20 series loss to bed.

However this was not to be, and for the first time since 2011, England’s ODI squad lost a match by 10 wickets.

It was also the first time ever England had been beaten by such a margin on their home turf.

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Not since the days of Sir Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Tim Bresnan had England’s ODI team had to endure such a scorecard.

With the next ODI in the three match series only one day away, is there any emergency surgery which can be performed in time to save another humiliating disaster?

Or are the problems much deeper beneath the surface?

There is an immediate thought as to what the presence of England’s currently injured pair of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer could have done to help remedy the situation England’s batters left them in.

Archer, in particular, shines on these occasions where it is all on the line and a big performance is needed.

Root, whose Test average is over 50, falls for a duckRoot, whose Test average is over 50, falls for a duck
Root, whose Test average is over 50, falls for a duck
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Paces of upwards of 90mph would certainly have helped rattle Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhwan more than the more timid offerings of David Willey, Reece Topley, Craig Overton and Brydon Carse.

But even for the wondrous rockets of Archer and Wood, there is a limit to what you can do when you only have 110 runs to play with.

For the first time in what has felt like an eternity (in ODI…) it was England’s batting unit that was truly calamitous.

Surely cries of joy would have been exclaimed by the recently appointed captain Jos Buttler, when he was finally able to bring back the steady hands of Joe Root and Ben Stokes, both of whom have captaincy experience.

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After the worries from the T20 series, all was going to be forgotten as England’s saviours Root, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow would return to white-ball after red-ball duty, but it turned out that the inclusion of those three who have reignited England’s love for Test cricket have done so at the cost of the white-ball game.

Root and Stokes lasted two balls and one ball respectively before leaving the field for dispiriting ducks, while Bairstow made it to seven runs off 20 before his innings came to an abrupt end and England were 17/4.

In the recent T20 series, both Phil Salt and Harry Brook were active members of the squad helping to make England’s losses not quite so damaging, but both were omitted from the ODI selection on the return of England’s Test heroes - it’s only natural to wonder whether this was a sensible call.

England have another upcoming series against South Africa to prepare for and the red-ball squad have just completed a transformative series against New Zealand.

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Would it not have made more sense to use the players who haven’t just burnt themselves out playing the electrifying Bazball cricket, in the hope they will then be rejuvenated for next week’s series against Keshav Maharaj and his squad?

England’s new white ball coach, Matthew Mott, said ahead of the Yorkshiremen and Test captain’s return: “Coming off the back of a win, it will be even better. We will be looking to them to bring that energy that they’ve had in the Test series.”

Well, this didn’t quite work out how the former coach of the Australian women’s team had anticipated.

Once again, England looked to rely on stunning individual efforts to bounce back from the jaws of defeat rather than that collective team effort.

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A final word must be said in defence of the shambolic display of cricket that England put on in yesterday’s opener.

In all formats of the game, England have had huge disruptions in leadership which have seen both red and white-ball introduce new coaches and captains.

While the Test team flourished in their ‘new-era’, maybe it’s time to cut the white-ballers some slack, as they adjust to the recent and rather sudden departure of anchorman Eoin Morgan.

Former captain Morgan suffered a huge drop in form but it’s apparent just how strong his presence was felt in that dressing room.

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But now, after a 2-1 T20 defeat and mortifying 10 wicket loss in an ODI, it’s time for England’s men to dry up their tears, regroup and for captain Buttler to show off the magnitude of his abilities that dominated the Indian Premier League earlier this year.

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