When the tournament began, England and India would have been pinned down as the two best teams and two of the favourites to win the World Cup.

These two teams meet in their group stage match in Birmingham in what should be an enterprising contest, even though India start off as slight favourites against the hosts.

While India have so far lived up to their billing, winning all of their games and having one washed out, England’s campaign is teetering as they have dropped down to fifth spot.

They lost first against Pakistan, a team they had defeated 5-0 at home in a bi-lateral ODI series, a few weeks before the World Cup began.

Then England lost to Sri Lanka, another team that had lost a bi-lateral series 5-0 against South Africa, and till date, this has been the upset of the tournament.

The last loss was perhaps not a surprise as it was against defending champions Australia, but it was a team England had thumped 5-0 at home in a bi-lateral series just a year ago.

With three losses and eight points, England must look to win at least one match out of their two remaining games, India and then New Zealand to hope of qualification.

The injury to Jason Roy has hurt England and his impending return should be a timely boost for the hosts, although it's not a guarantee that he's fit enough for Sunday.

Ben Stokes has looked like the player who can handle the pressure and bat well under it while the rest of the batting, including the classy Joe Root has looked soft. 

The bowling, led by Jofra Archer has been pretty solid throughout and perhaps the spinners could do with a bit more control.

The worry though is Archer’s fitness as he picked up a side strain and his pace has been down, so whether England gamble on him remains to be seen.

India on the other hand have had their top order batsmen Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and captain Virat Kohli among the runs.

While MS Dhoni has been criticised for batting too slowly at times, he has shown his experience in adjusting to the conditions and understanding what’s a good total

On the other hand Hardik Pandya has played a few attacking knocks that has propped up their team total.

As for the bowling, Jasprit Bumrah has been at his economical best while he’s had excellent support from Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and afterwards Mohammad Shami.

The spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal has also proved equally effective in the middle overs.

With Vijay Shankar, and Kedar Jadhav have not been required to make massive contributions, they still remain a spot in the Indian batting order for opposition bowlers to target. 

Perhaps that too can be strengthened by bringing in the experienced Dinesh Karthik or explosive Rishabh Pant and there is always the option to play Ravindra Jadeja as well.

These two teams have met in seven previous World Cup matches and both have won three games each, while the last encounter in 2011 was an enterprising tie.

Teams

If Roy is fit enough, he should be replacing James Vince, who has not impressed, while the rest of the lineup should remain the same as the Australia game.

England’s Probable XI: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Mark Wood

India are likely to remain unchanged for this game although Jadeja could be an option if conditions permit. 

India’s Probable XI: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah    

Pitch and Weather

Pakistan and New Zealand’s last match at Edgbaston was a thrilling contest with New Zealand rueing not taking another spinner in Ish Sodhi on spinner-friendly conditions.

The surface for Sunday’s game is a fresh one and it should be a batting paradise with plenty of runs to be made.

Teams winning the toss might want to bat first although teams chasing have won the last five games on this venue. 

The weather is expected to be clear and sunny in Birmingham so a full game with no rain interruptions should be possible.