England hope that Brydon Carse can replicate Liam Plunkett's success in the middle overs after drafting him into their World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Reece Topley.
Carse will arrive in Bangalore ahead of England's match against Sri Lanka on Thursday, though is unlikely to be considered for selection having last played competitively four weeks ago. He featured in one of England's four ODIs against New Zealand last month after impressing in the T20I series, and also played for their second-string side against Ireland.
Carse, 28, was born in South Africa but is a UK passport-holder who plays for Durham and Northern Superchargers in domestic cricket. A tall, powerful seamer who can also contribute with the bat from the lower order, he has won 12 ODI caps and three T20I caps since making his debut in 2021.
"He's a brilliant all-round package," Joe Root said on Monday. "He can score some handy runs for you, is very dynamic in the field and has a unique wicket-taking ability. He's got that [Ben] Stokes element to him where sometimes, you feel like nothing is happening and he'll pick up wickets."
England had swiftly and unceremoniously moved on from Plunkett after the last World Cup, when he was 34, and Carse is the closest like-for-like replacement that they have used in the four years since. "He almost feels like a junior Plunkett," Root said. "He's very similar. Pudsy [Plunkett] might not like me saying this, but he's probably got even more to offer with the bat as well."
Root also expressed his sympathy for Topley, who was officially ruled out of the World Cup on Sunday after scans confirmed a fracture in the index finger of his bowling hand. "The poor lad, it just doesn't seem to stop for him," he said. "Every time he does extremely well and gets a string of performances together where he's playing good cricket, he just seems to get a setback."
England travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru on Sunday afternoon following their 229-run thrashing by South Africa. They will train on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon before playing Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, the first of five must-win group fixtures as they aim to reach the semi-finals despite three defeats in their first four games.
"The situation we find ourselves in now, we've got to make sure that we're ready and in the best possible place to perform well in the next game," Root told Sky Sports. "We'll look at that as a World Cup final now - then do the same for the game after that, and the game after that. All we've got to do is really focus on Sri Lanka.
"I've played in a number of different England teams, good ones and bad ones," Root said. "This is one of the very best. It's a very together team. We know what we need to do… We've got some very simple messaging in front of us right now: we have to go out and win. In some ways, that unshackles us and frees us up to do what we do."