England gamble on Roy as India punt on Pant

England won the toss and opted to bat in their key World Cup game against India on Sunday as opener Jason Roy returned to the starting line-up.

Eoin Morgan's side, who have suffered two straight losses, need to win their remaining two league matches to guarantee a place in the semi-finals.

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"It is a matter of two games to go, hopefully we can win two and go through. It will be a tough challenge today and we are looking forward to it," Morgan said at the toss at Edgbaston.

Roy, who missed the last three games due to a hamstring injury and replaces James Vince, is one of the two changes in the side that lost the previous game to Australia.

"It is not a big risk. There is always an element of risk but Jason has trained well the last week and is fit to play," Morgan said on Roy's inclusion.

Image Id: 70B3F132F0734824890BAF5E9FF7DBE7 Image Caption: India's clash kit will be worn against England // Getty

Moeen Ali makes way for Liam Plunkett with Morgan calling it a "tactical" switch.

The Virat Kohli-led India have made one change to their team that has remained unbeaten in the tournament with five victories and a washout.

Rising star Rishabh Pant, who was a late replacement in the squad for the injured Shikhar Dhawan, comes in for Vijay Shankar in the XI.

India, who recently displaced England from the top of ODI rankings, need one win out of the remaining three matches to book their final four spot.

"It is never a problem chasing, I would have batted as well. It's a good challenge for us, we are up for it," said Kohli.

"We haven't focused on the opposition to be honest, we have been finding ways to win games regardless. It's all about what you do on the day."

Despite coming into the World Cup as the top-ranked side in one-day internationals, England have lost three pool matches, including their last two against Sri Lanka and reigning champions Australia.

To make matters worse for the home side, opener Jonny Bairstow has found himself involved in a public row with former England captain Michael Vaughan, who labelled his fellow Yorkshire cricketer's claim that people are waiting for the hosts to fail at the World Cup "negative" and "pathetic".

England's white-ball revival from the depths of their first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup was built on aggressive top-order batting that saw them compile huge totals.

But they have been unable to adjust their game on the more bowler-friendly surfaces at this World Cup.

"I can't fault the commitment or application that the guys have produced in every single game. Where we've let ourselves down as a group is adapting to conditions," Morgan said Saturday.

"It's been a bigger challenge in this World Cup than previous bilateral series. We're going to have to adapt to conditions, adapt to playing against a strong side in India."

England's two most recent defeats have coincided with the absence through a hamstring injury of Roy, with replacement James Vince struggling to fill the gap left by the Surrey opener.

Morgan admitted playing both was a risk.

"Jofra is going to see how it is. It is the same thing he has been playing with the last three games. We will see how he comes through," Morgan said.

"The exact same rule applies. If it is going to rule him out long-term then we won't play him. If it risks him short-term, then yes."

England's dilemma was summed up by Ben Stokes after his 89 failed to prevent a 64-run defeat by Australia at Lord's on Tuesday.

"We just need to adjust to situations and then conditions, but we are not for one minute going to take a backward step," he said.

Sunday's match may well feel like an away game as India fans could constitute the majority of the Edgbaston crowd.

Two-time champions India will guarantee a place in the semi-finals if they win, although there are concerns they are too reliant on captain Virat Kohli for runs.

Kohli, the world's top-ranked Test and ODI batsman, has hit four consecutive half-centuries and on Thursday became the fastest batsmen to 20,000 international runs across all formats.

"I would say that's a lie if I say I'm not under pressure," Kohli told reporters on Saturday. "That is the excitement that all of us carry as international cricketers -- to walk into a pressure situation and come out on top."

Kohli, whose side have replaced England at the top of the ODI rankings, said he was taken aback by the hosts' form.

"Look, everyone is a bit surprised. We thought England is probably going to dominate in their own conditions.

"But as I said at the beginning of the tournament in the press conference, that pressure is going to be a massive factor to handle and low scores are going to be defended," he added.

England XI: Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood.

India XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.