Having finished runners-up twice, the hosts England are determined to set the record straight when they open their campaign against Bangladesh at The Oval today
England players hold a team talk at The Oval yesterday on the eve of their Champions Trophy tie vs B'desh today. Pic/AFP
Rarely have England been tagged as favourites in a major tournament. In fact, it's now or never as they seek their maiden Champions Trophy crown, having finished as runners-up twice when they have hosted the event earlier.
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England along with Pakistan are the two major Test-playing nations which have not won the Champions Trophy. The English team is determined to set the record straight, taking on the responsibility to host the eight-team championship again, after staging it successfully from a spectator's point of view in 2013. So, will they be third time lucky at home?
England no more underdogs
The new England side under Eoin Morgan are no more the dull dogs, having adopted aggressive and fearless cricket as their motto with the emergence of quality players among them. After failing to qualify for the knockouts in World Cup 2015 at the expense of a resurgent Bangladesh, they have shed the image of being a poor white-ball cricket side and have since risen in ODIs and T20s.
Aggression will continue: Bayliss
England run into their World Cup nemesis Bangladesh in the tournament opener at the Oval today, with both the teams having had a poor last game in the lead-up to the mega-event. England collapsed like nine pins in the third ODI against South Africa at Lord's, while Bangladesh received a royal hiding from India in a warm-up game at the Oval. England coach Trevor Bayliss said that despite the debacle at Lord's, the team will not give up their aggressive intent and will continue to play fearless cricket.
"I have never seen a team win a global tournament playing defensively. It's always a team that backs itself and plays bold cricket. So you have to take the good with the bad. But you also have to be a bit flexible and better than we were at Lord's," said Bayliss.
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe said: "Obviously it (the defeat to India) affects the confidence a little bit, but this is a practice game. It's now a big game for us, the first game of the Champions Trophy, and we would not allow the poor Oval show to cast a shadow.
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