World Cup: From shame in 2015 to dominance in ’19, England complete sweet revenge over Bangladesh

“Unbelievably disappointing. I am gutted at the moment. No idea what will happen from here.” This was England captain Eoin Morgan’s reaction after his team got knocked out by Bangladesh in the league stage of the 2015 ICC World Cup.

At that time, England weren’t really considered a force to reckon with in One-Day Internationals. They are among the three major cricketing nations, along with New Zealand and South Africa, to have never won the World Cup. Despite all of this, that loss at Adelaide in March, 2015, was a heavy blow. They had failed to make it to the top eight of a tournament that was designed to ensure the smooth progress of the big names. A lot had to change.

Cut to June 8, 2019, the English batsmen decimated Bangladesh’s bowling attack at the ongoing World Cup. They scored a record 386/6 batting first and registered a 106-run victory, their second of the tournament. It was a comprehensive performance with the bat, but in the least bit surprising.

The last time these two teams met at the World Cup, England had failed to chase down 275 as they got all out for 260. But things have changed a fair bit in the last four years. Morgan and his men are now the No. 1 ranked ODI team in the world.

Heading into the 2019 World Cup, England were billed as the firm favourites. This wasn’t because of the fact that the previous two editions had been won by the host nation. It had more to do with what they had achieved in the 50-over format since the debacle of 2015.

Four years ago, the primary issue for England was obvious. They simply weren’t giving enough importance to white-ball cricket. They have always been known to pride themselves as a Test-loving nation, with the Ashes rivalry against Australia being sacrosanct. But this had led to the shorter format suffering years of neglect. To put things in perspective, Morgan recently became the first Englishman to play 200 ODIs, while India have 15 players who have featured in 200 or more ODIs.

In many ways, the loss to Bangladesh at the 2015 World Cup was a watershed moment for English cricket. Their transformation was set in motion immediately after. They replaced head coach Peter Moores with Trevor Bayliss, but stuck with Morgan as captain. And the 32-year-old has been at the center of his country’s dramatic rise in ODIs.

Morgan and Andrew Strauss, England’s Director of Cricket back then, were clear that an overhaul was needed. For there to be a real change, the one-day format had to be given priority over Tests in the years to come.

“In the 2015 World Cup, there was a drastic change in the move towards higher scores,” Morgan was quoted as saying by BBC. “With the bat, you needed to be able to post 330-350, so to choose guys whose default mode was pure aggression was something we highlighted in selection. We identified guys with a lot of talent who would fit the mould; guys who if they did get knocked back at some stage, they would come back harder.”

In their first home series after the 2015 World Cup, England brought in Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett. All these players are an integral part of the current ODI team. In fact, it was Roy’s blazing 153 that set up their win on Saturday.

England have stayed true to the pledge they took four years ago. In the last few seasons, they have shattered several records and been at the forefront of a batting revolution in one-day cricket. In 2018, they scored the highest ever team total of 481 against Australia, and also displaced India at the top of the ODI rankings.

The one-sided, utterly dominant victory against Bangladesh on Saturday was a sweet revenge for England. It reflects how far they have come in a span of four years. It was the wound inflicted by the Tigers in 2015 that started it all. Their glorious turnaround will, of course, be complete only with a triumph on July 14 at Lord’s.