Once White-Ball Kings, England Tackle Glaring Negatives Ahead Of Champions Trophy With 'Bazball" Under Scrutiny

England, not-so-long hailed as white-ball cricket revolutionaries for their game-changing performances across both ODI and T20I formats after the 2015 50-over World Cup that impacted scoring rates and statistics worldwide, have plenty of issues to address ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. Be it the absence of some prominent players, dip in form of senior mainstays or their spin troubles, there is plenty of things currently holding back the team with skipper Jos Buttler and newly appointed coach Brendon McCullum at helm.

England will kickstart their Champions Trophy campaign against arch-rivals Australia from February 22 at Lahore, with matches against Afghanistan (February 26) and South Africa (March 1) coming later. Leading up to the series since the 2023 ODI World Cup, England's ODI form has been mostly average at best, with few glimpses of brilliance that led them to simultaneous world championship glory in ODIs and T20Is. Under their new head coach McCullum, they have failed to unleash his 'Bazball' school of cricket badly during the white-ball series against India.

*Bilateral series form: After the 2023 50-over World Cup, England has participated in four ODI series, out of which they have failed to win any. Since the 2023 World Cup end, England has played in 14 ODIs, out of which they have won just four. In these 14 ODIs, England has lost eight while defending a total, though twice it was as per the Duckworth-Lewis Method. They have won only once while defending. While chasing, England has won thrice (once as per Duckworth-Lewis Method) and lost twice. In nine matches away from home, they have won just two.

Their series records are: 1-2 loss to West Indies (away from home), a 2-3 loss to Australia (at home), 1-2