'The Confidence Is...': Jonny Bairstow Backs ENG Ahead Of SA Tie
England suffered a shock defeat against Afghanistan [X.com]
The ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India has been quite a rough ride for defending champions England.
After being handed a loss in the tournament opener against New Zealand, the Jos Buttler-led side suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in Delhi on Monday, raising questions about England's chances in the competition.
With a small break, England will face South Africa on October 21 at Mumbai, who themselves suffered a crushing loss against the Netherlands.
Ahead of the all-important tie, wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow has backed his side to make a strong comeback after the shock loss, stating that one loss game does not make the players bad.
As quoted by ESPNcricinfo, Bairstow explained that England has no lack of self-belief, and the confidence within the teams remains intact, despite all the criticism happening around them.
Here's what Bairstow said
"The group remains calm within it. Belief and confidence isn't something that's been questioned one bit. That's something that you're able to call upon when you do lose a game. We lost to Sri Lanka in 2019. We lost to Pakistan in 2019. We still went through. There were similar things that I'm sure you guys [the press] wrote in 2019 at the home World Cup.
But that's OK. That's what you've got to do. You've got to write certain things about certain members and what people do and don't do in their downtime. That's things that you'll fill in the [column] inches and you're doing that. Whether it's true, whether it's incorrect, whatever it is - that's up to you to do that, isn't it? The confidence is there. It's unwavering. There's no lack of belief within this group."
England are currently placed fifth in the points table with one win, and two losses, while South Africa are third with two wins, and one loss.
 "Vishal Mehra")
