England are taking on Afghanistan in their third fixture of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, hosted in New Delhi on Sunday, October 15. The English side, eager to maintain their triumphant stride, anticipate a fierce contest against the zealous Afghanistan team. Prior to the match, prominent all-rounder Chris Woakes shared his thoughts on England's prospects in this prestigious tournament.
"It's an incredibly tough challenge to win in India. Naturally, I think the sub-continental teams will feel more at home with the conditions." Despite acknowledging the formidable task of overcoming sub-continental teams on their home turf, Woakes exudes confidence in England's capabilities," Chris Woakes told Sky Sports.
He remarked, "That makes it extremely hard for us to knock them off their perch, so to speak. But we've got the squad and the players to be able to compete. People have looked at us for a while and we've had a little bit of a target on our back as a white-ball team, around the world."
Emphasising the challenges of the competition, Woakes added, "It's a tough competition to win, isn't it? Especially here. But we'll give it a good crack. We're taking it each game as it comes. Naturally, people have got expectations of us and we've certainly got our own expectations of ourselves."
England boasts the unique distinction of clinching two consecutive white-ball World Cups. Their triumphant journey began in 2019, thanks to Ben Stokes' spectacular performance, which culminated in their first ODI World Cup win. Their momentum continued into 2022 when a collaboration between Stokes and Curran led England to secure the T20 World Cup title.
Woakes was part of the squad that won the ODI World Cup in 2019. He was named in the Playing XI for the game against Afghanistan. "Looks a pretty good batting wicket, we're playing a talented tough team but we'll focus on ourselves. We improved a lot from the first game to the second game, we pride ourselves on our intensity," England skipper Jos Buttler said at the toss.
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