Defending champions England are at serious risk of missing out of the race for clinching a semi-final spot in the ongoing Men’s ODI World Cup and veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali stated the side knows they are in a must-win situation, adding that the team has to get the confidence together and perform well in coming matches.
England come into Thursday’s match against 1996 champions Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on the back of suffering losses to Afghanistan and South Africa, with their overall record at one win and three losses.
Moreover, they are now without lanky left-arm pacer Reece Topley, their leading wicket-taker at the tournament, after he broke his finger in a heavy 229-run defeat to South Africa in Mumbai, with pacer Brydon Carse drafted in as his replacement.
"We're obviously disappointed from the result and not just the result but the way we played so but, in the competition, you've got to move on as quick as you can and regroup. Everything is a must-win and we know we've been in this position before, probably not to this degree.”
"But we know everything is a must-win and we have to get our confidence and perform well and bat and bowl and field better than we have done so far in this tournament. There's no other choice or no other way of playing apart from putting in the performance that we win the game and we've got to do every game from now on to stay in this World Cup," said Moeen in the pre-match press conference.
The off-spin all-rounder hasn’t played a game in the World Cup after England lost their tournament opener to New Zealand by nine wickets in Ahmedabad and added that his role right now is to prepare himself to be ready for entering playing eleven in the competition at any time.
"It's very frustrating, obviously, because you want to play and make some sort of difference. It's difficult when you're not winning and then when you're not playing on top of that, it's hard. But you prepare and train well, and that's all you can do at the minute. So, my job is to do that. When the time comes, and if I get the recall, then be ready and try and impact the team in winning games."
Asked if there was a feeling in the England camp that the tournament may mark the end of England careers for some players in the group, Moeen replied, "There's still a lot of players that can play for a long time. There's obviously a few of us who are a bit older, more than likely won't make the next World Cup, but there's a lot of players who have been around for years that will be, and I don't think it's the end of anything."
"It could potentially be the start of something else. I mean, we're still in the competition, we're still in the tournament. We know it's a tough one now. We've got to win every game. But we know that we can do it."
"It's just more just getting the confidence back as a side and playing the way we know that we can play. But who knows what could be the start of or the end of, but no one's really thinking about that kind of stuff."