Joe Root insists that individual records mean nothing if England do not reclaim the Cricket World Cup… as they look to stamp their authority on the tournament against Afghanistan

England enter Sunday’s game against Afghanistan needing to stamp their authority on the World Cup – with Joe Root insisting that breaking individual records won’t mean a thing if they don’t lift the trophy.

Root has begun the competition with 77 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad and 82 off just 68 balls against Bangladesh in Dharamshala, where he overtook Graham Gooch to become England’s leading run-scorer at World Cups.

But in both games he has been part of a collapse that has raised concerns about England’s firepower, especially late in an innings: five for 64 to hamper their chances of beating New Zealand, then seven for 66 against the Bangladeshis when a total of 400 looked on the cards.

The performance against New Zealand, in particular, left England – who hold both white-ball trophies – facing questions about whether they had lost some of their aura. And Root knows that landmarks will fade into irrelevance if the team fall short in the weeks ahead.

Asked about breaking Gooch’s record, he said: ‘It’d be nice if we win a World Cup at the end of it, because we’d have two [one-day] World Cups and I’d be the leading run-scorer.

Anything less than a resounding victory against Afghanistan will leave doubts over England

‘But it’s got to mean something over a long period of time to hold any weight. From a personal point of view, they’re all niceties, but it’s got to stand for something, and the only way it does is if we go on and win this thing, which we know we can.’

Anything less than a resounding victory on Sunday in Delhi will leave doubts over England’s ability to defend their trophy. And comparisons with four years ago – when they thrashed Afghanistan at Old Trafford by 150 runs, with Eoin Morgan hammering a world-record 17 sixes – will be inevitable.

But Morgan retired last year, and is in India only as a commentator, while Jason Roy is missing through injury. Since Ben Stokes, who has not faced anything other than throwdowns in the nets since Dharamshala, is unlikely to risk his hip injury until next week’s heavyweight clash with South Africa in Mumbai, that means England will be without three of the top six who made them the side to fear in 2019.

After 12 games of this tournament, that mantle belongs to India, who brushed aside arch-rivals Pakistan yesterday, and South Africa, for whom opener Quinton de Kock has made two hundreds in two games. The way they battered 425 against Sri Lanka last week felt very much like England circa 2019.

Root cheerfully admits he’s ‘never been someone with the game that Ben or Eoin or Jos [Buttler] has got’. But his role has always been to make big scores, unobtrusively: a record of 6,405 ODI runs at an average of 49 and a strike-rate of 87 tells you he has succeeded.

For Harry Brook, still learning his 50-over trade on the job, Sunday’s game is especially important. And the opponent likeliest to make life difficult is leg-spinner Rashid Khan, one of three Afghan slow bowlers in the top 10 of the ODI rankings, along with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. Rashid disappeared for 110 off his nine overs in Manchester in 2019, but it was a major aberration.

For Harry Brook, who is still learning his 50-over trade, Sunday’s game is especially important 

England’s batters will be tested by Afghanistan’s spinners, including Rashid Khan (pictured)

England’s highest-ranked bowler, by contrast, is down at No 14: Chris Woakes, who had recovered on Saturday from the stomach ailment that ruled him out of training on Friday.

‘I don’t think Rashid needs the conditions to suit him to cause mayhem, does he?’ said Jonathan Trott, the Afghanistan coach and former England batsman. ‘This side’s got the ability to upset anyone. We’ve been so close in previous matches. It’s just about getting over the line.’

Root’s claim that he wants to be around for the 2027 World Cup in southern Africa, when he will be 36, was reassuring news for England fans. But his more immediate goal is to help Buttler’s side impose themselves on a tournament against opponents who demand respect but do not instil fear.

‘We don’t want to look at what could go wrong,’ he said. ‘We’ll look at what we can do right.’