Since their humbling defeat by New Zealand last Thursday England have relocated to Dharamshala, on the slopes of the Lesser Himalayas, knowing a second successive defeat at the start of their World Cup campaign would leave them with a mountain to climb. But instead of nerves, the situation as they prepare to face Bangladesh on Tuesday has, according to Liam Livingstone, made the players “doubly excited”.
It is not that the altitude – at 1,457m above sea level the HPCA Stadium is the highest international cricket ground in India and one of the highest in the world, as well as being among the most picturesque – has made the players giddy. If anything, that has added to their sense of anticipation.
When Livingstone played here for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League in May he hit 94 off 48, with nine sixes, as he repeatedly powered the ball through the thin mountain air. He describes it as “probably as English a pitch as there is out here” and believes “it will probably suit us more than many grounds around the country”.
He adds: “It’s an incredible ground and an incredible place to bat if it’s anything like it was that day. Because of the altitude the ball just flies really well – it’s the kind of place you can really set up the back end of the innings and score highly.
“It makes you more confident to take on the boundaries. They aren’t big here anyway and the altitude just makes it better, with the power we’ve got in our lineup. It certainly helps as a batter, standing there knowing you can take the fielders on.”
Bangladesh will also have positive, and fresh, memories of the venue, having beaten Afghanistan there on Saturday - but England are relishing the opportunity to put their campaign on track. “The one thing this group does well when we’ve lost a game of cricket is double down on our aggressive approach,” Livingstone says.
“We’ve got a chance to do that on Tuesday. One game doesn’t define a tournament. If you’re going to lose a game like that, you’d probably rather it was the first one. There’s no point looking back and regretting – as a group we are good at looking forward. Bangladesh is a good opportunity and I’m sure everyone is doubly excited to show what we are all about.”
On Thursday, Joe Root said conditions in Ahmedabad changed drastically as night fell, the floodlights came on, and New Zealand powered towards their target. That should be less of an issue in Dharamshala, where England play their only day game, but Livingstone feels it could be an issue throughout the World Cup and that it will contribute to there being “more upsets in this tournament than we’ve seen before”.
“Over here you’re going to see conditions change a lot from first to second innings, and hopefully Jos [Buttler] is going to get really good at the toss. As stupid as it sounds the teams that win the toss really should have a decent advantage.”
