Afghanistan shocked the cricket world by defeating defending champions England in the 2023 World Cup at Delhi on Sunday. The win revived their hopes of qualifying for the next round after losing their first two matches by big margins.
England, on the other hand, faced a reality check after their convincing win over Bangladesh. Their weaknesses against spin and the new ball were exposed by the spirited Afghans. Here are the top five opinions from experts on this stunning upset:
5. “No wiggle room now” – Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain, a former England captain, revealed how he had predicted Afghanistan would pull off one major shock throughout the competition but hadn’t anticipated it would be against England.
He advised Jos Buttler’s team to adopt a touch more brutality right away.
“For Jos Buttler’s team, there is no wiggle room now,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “They have to win every match from here on if they want to keep the defence of their title in their own hands.”
“That means them playing their best XI and acting as if every game, starting with facing the in-form South Africa in Mumbai on Saturday, is a World Cup final. That means Ben Stokes has got to come back in if he is fit. I sincerely hope England were not holding him back here thinking ‘it’s only Afghanistan,”
Nasser Hussain
Hussain advised Buttler to start Ben Stokes and Harry Brook instead of Chris Woakes. Woakes failed to pick up any wickets against Afghanistan or New Zealand and hasn’t made much of an impact with the bat either.
4. “They have not hit the ground running” – Michael Atherton
Former England captain Michael Atherton blamed the lack of ODI readiness for some teams for the shock defeat. He said England’s poor start, including Buttler’s sloppy keeping allowing five wides on Woakes’ first ball, put them on the back foot against Afghanistan.
“England haven’t bowled well enough and teams have got off to fliers against them. There are reasons. Many of the players are undercooked in terms of cricketing time, time in ODIs. But they have not hit the ground running and have made things very difficult for themselves now. I think England started badly today,”
“They were sloppy. Five wides to start, Curran giving away a free hit in the early overs. A misfield from Bairstow that went for four. They just looked a bit off the pace and that set the tone. They were always chasing the game from that point on,”
Michael Atherton
England played like a T20 team, with too many variations from the bowlers and no control over the run-rate. Buttler, Livingstone and Rashid did well, but the pacers failed to contain Afghanistan.
Afghanistan were smart and prepared. They attacked Woakes and Curran in the powerplay, but played safely against Topley, who had taken four wickets in the last match.
3. “Most of them are pretty one-dimensional” – Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer, a former India opener who is now a commentator, made it clear that he disagreed with England’s ‘Bazball’ strategy. He referred to England’s hitters as “one-dimensional,” claiming that they were more suited to flat domestic tracks and lacked confidence against spin.
“Most of them are pretty one-dimensional. They go pretty hard but if the pitch is not to their liking, this is what can happen. And if teams are stacked up with spin… I had my doubts on how England batters [would] play against spin and that was on show today. They need to think really hard about how they want to play spin in India and improve quickly.”
Wasim Jaffer
The spinners’ quality turned out to make a significant effect as well. While Liam Livingstone and Joe Root each got a wicket and were efficient, Afghanistan’s trio of Mujeeb ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi each grabbed at least two wickets and were responsible for eight of the team’s ten wickets.
2. “Sam Curran is not even looking 50-50” – Aakash Chopra
Jos Buttler chose to bowl first at the toss, claiming dew, which astonished former India opener Aakash Chopra because there was no dew when India faced Afghanistan at the same site.
In a YouTube video review of the game, he said that:
“In such a case, if you have batting depth like England and you say that you will score 350-400, then bat first. They forgot that England’s bowling is looking extremely ordinary. Reece Topley did well in one match. Chris Woakes is looking 50-50. Sam Curran is not even looking 50-50, he is looking even more ordinary than that.”
Aakash Chopra
However, Chopra also stated that despite their inferior bowling squad, England would “find a way” to qualify since their batting is improving.
1. “England are now hanging by a thread” – Steven Finn
Former English pacer Steven Finn suggested that following the loss, there would be some fear in the locker room.
“England are now hanging by a thread in this competition,” he said said on BBC Test Match Special. “There are going to be a lot of meetings, a lot of conversations and a lot of head scratching over the next 48 hours.
“They’re going to have to pick themselves up because they are not technically out of the tournament. But they’re going to need to change something and change it quick if they’re going to compete against the best teams in the world,”
Steven Finn
In addition, Finn referred to Woakes as a “liability” and stated that if the team wants to advance in the World Cup, they can no longer rely on Curran to offer batting depth.