Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Rohit Sharma: We wanted to bat first, we have had a good time batting second. It’s a good surface, it has played well for the 100 overs. It’s quite important to think like that and is also important to play well. We have played some good cricket

Jos Buttler: We are going to bowl first today. Not anything in particular, it's a tough decision. It's a great occasion and hopefully, today we bring our best. Today, we want to put up a good show. Playing in front of a full crowd and against India, it's a great occasion. We are going with the same team.

England have won the toss and have opted to field

Pitch Report: This does look like a Wankhede stadium track of the 80s and 90s. It’s the fourth game at this venue and we can already see some wear and tear and some dry patches, spinners will come into play. Under lights, batting will get easier. Quality spinners will come into play. I think it will spin, it is about how much and when. India are more dangerous when there’s spin. If it spins, it will bring Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali turn into play. If it’s a good pitch it turns a bit, then India will be favourites. It looks like a decent pitch, reckon Ravi Shastri and Nasser Hussain.

Shami doing some light bowling on the practice pitches even as Ashwin and Jadeja have another serious inspection of the pitch with lots of pointing towards a spot outside the right-hander's offstump.

Ganesh Chandrasekaran adds: For now, Wiley and Woakes from England and Bumrah from India have marked their run-ups.

Our correspondent, Ganesh Chandrasekaran, pings: Hello from Lucknow. The pitch seems to be of much interest to the Indian camp so far, Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathour having a long look at it with discussions

Talking about England, the situation demands them to fire in unison! For inspiration, they can remind themselves how they picked themselves up after their loss to Ireland in last year’s T20 World Cup and went on to win the trophy. Realistically, even if they win all their remaining four league games, it might not be enough but there will be a glimmer of hope! On that note, we bid you a warm welcome to our live coverage. Toss and team lineups coming up in a while...

Now, let’s discuss the surface – it’s the same one that was used between South Africa and Australia. Being a used surface, it can bring spinners more into play. Will India be tempted to play their third spinner and bring in Ashwin? But, the question is will they take a gamble and drop Siraj who has seen a dip in form? Mind you, India have always backed their star performers.

In hindsight, look at India’s calculative and balanced approach. Things have flown like water for them! Rohit Sharma’s positive approach at the top is doing wonders for the middle-order. Virat Kohli is scoring runs with grace and elegance, having already scored three fifties and a century in five games. Hardik is still recovering from an ankle injury. Still, there’s a lot of variety and incisiveness in their bowling. Bumrah is at the top of his game. Shami announced himself with a 5-fer in the previous game against New Zealand. The duo of Kuldeep and Jadeja is also weaving its magic! The Men in Blue are the only unbeaten side in the tournament with five wins from five games.

12:45 Local Time, 07:15 GMT: Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. At one point, it can make you feel the highs and thrills of peaking. At another point, it can bring you crashing down and teach you important lessons. If peaks and troughs are a visual representation, England fit the graph perfectly. The defending champions’ campaign is in jeopardy as their hopes are hanging by a thread. To make things even more challenging, they will be up against a rampaging Indian side in Lucknow. Barring their dominant win against Bangladesh, the Englishmen have faced four heavy defeats. Their no-holds barred approach with the bat has backfired on them. Their bowlers have looked like a mere shadow of themselves.

Preview by Ganesh Chandrasekaran

This was supposed to be the marquee clash of the tournament, between two of the pre-tournament favourties. It's a surprise then we are where we are as India gets ready to take on England, in a clash that could potentially end even the glimmer of hope that the defending champions hold.

England themselves have uttered multiple times that the mathematical equation left gives them little hope with head coach Matthew Mott, skipper Jos Buttler and assistant coach Marcus Trescothick echoing each other's thoughts. Having resigned to their fate already, the clash now has been dimmed of some shine.

Nevertheless, what it now could offer both teams some look ahead at individual gameplans and overall strategy despite not being a dead rubber, technically. India, without Hardik Pandya, would rest easy now given that they've won five games on the trot, but will be wary of reclaiming that form after a five-day break between games.

The next leg of games come thick and fast for them with one eye already glancing towards a potential semifinal clash, and at the pecking order at the top. For what it's worth, there are still possibilities where India can not finish in the top four despite their run so far, and even a win tomorrow doesn't guarantee them that. What it would do is hold them in good stead, and send out another strong message across the board about their form and help create an air of invincibility on home turf.

Given that they've been chasing all along the tournament, it could also offer them a chance to try the other route if the opportunity arises, and if the conditions are in favour.

When: Sunday, October 28 at 1400 Local Time

Where: BRSABVE Stadium, Lucknow

What to expect: Hot weather, and a dry pitch in all probability. It is supposed to be the same one that saw Australia take on South Africa. With the soil being a mixture of black and red, there is expected to be a lot for the spinners to work with. A day ahead of the game, it witnessed plenty of work on it under the supervision of Andy Atkinson, ICC's pitch supervisor. With some watering first followed by methodical rolling with a light roller first and then the heavy one. How it plays is up for anyone's guess, but there were a few keen eyes from the England camp as it was going on, and as ever could dictate what combinations the teams field.

Team News

India

Will they have R Ashwin back for this game given that England have a few left-handers and with the conditions likely to favour spin? It could be one of the questions on their mind alongside another big one in choosing the pacers. With Mohammed Shami's five-fer, there could be a temptation to stick with him instead of Mohammad Siraj, who has been in lukewarm form in the World Cup after having set alight the format in the days preceding that. It could be a tough call to make either way.

Tactics & Strategy

Jos Buttler has fallen to pace all five times in World Cup 2023, and the same number of times to Mohammed Shami as well. If he plays, India would probably not waste time in testing out this match-up for more reasons than one.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin/Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami

England

Despite losing their previous game, England may be tempted to stick to a eleven that largely resembles the same combination. If the track offers a bit of grip, there could be the temptation to bring back Sam Curran. Harry Brook would also be breathing down the neck of Liam Livingstone despite the latter's bowling offerings.

Tactics & Strategy

Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have dismissed Virat Kohli three times apiece so far. In this tournament, Kohli is yet to be dismissed by a spinner but that shouldn't prevent England from unleashing the spinners when he arrives, should the chance come by.

Probable XI: Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone/Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Did you know

- Australia in 1992 is the only other defending champion to lose four (or more) matches in an edition of the World Cup

- Root has come out to bat in the Powerplay four times this WC and has not survived the phase thrice

- India is the fastest scoring team in overs 1-10 (6.52) and only Afghanistan (66.25) average more in this phase than India's 65.20.

What they said

"I don't know. I don't know if free hits can really make a difference. I think I thought we were going into the last game everything in order to what we needed to do. And then we didn't show the standards of performance that what we need. So, it's really challenging because you want to come into World Cups, you want to be playing for every game, you want something to really be meaningful when you go out and perform. And you look at the World Cup rugby, it must be challenging playing a third and fourth place playoff. But we've got an opportunity against a big team in their own country where the atmosphere is going to be electric. So, if you're not excited and up for the game like that, then great. You know, this is an opportunity to do so" - Marcus Trescothick, England's assistant coach, is not of the opinion that England could play with more freedom now

Squads:

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan

England Squad: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Brydon Carse, Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson