‘World Champions’ England not bothered about their recent form

|| CF DESK ||

When England plays Bangladesh on Wednesday in the first of three one-day internationals at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, they won't be concerned about their recent performance in 50-over cricket.

The English team enters the series with eight losses in their previous ten games, while Bangladesh seeks to win their eighth straight ODI series at home. According to recent statistics, Bangladesh are the clear favorites.

However, England all-rounder Moeen Ali claimed that since they are still world champions, their recent lack of success doesn't matter to them.

England are the reigning champions of both the Cricket World Cup [50 overs] and Twenty20 World Cup having won the tournaments in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

“Doesn't really matter who are favorites. Bangladesh are a good team at home, we have lost eight in last 10 games but we are still the world champions. We have not been able to play our best team but now we have [Mark] Wood and Jofra [Archer] back in the side. Will Jacks is also in the team but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter who are favorites,” said Moeen to the media in the pre-match press conference in Mirpur Tuesday. 

The SBNS wickets are well known for aiding spinners and giving Bangladesh the upper hand.

Despite this, Moeen stated that his team will continue to place its trust in the fast-bowling trio of Wood, Archer, and Sam Curran because of their exceptional quality.

“We have three spinners in the squad but it is not because we have come to play in Bangladesh. We carry our fast bowlers because of the pace they bowl at. It is tough for the opponents to play fast bowlers on these kinds of wickets too because they are not just fast bowlers but quality fast bowlers. That makes a difference,” said Moeen.

“You to accept that you will be playing good spinners when travelling the sub-continent. Bangladesh is good as a team and they have made significant progress in last few years. Not only the spinners, they have quality fast bowlers too. We will have our best possible preparation. We have practiced against left-arm and right-arm spinners. We are aware of their [Bangladesh] strength. We have prepared that way” he added.

England are the only visitors to win a bilateral ODI series in Bangladesh since 2015.