New Delhi, India

England's World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan feels winning the CWC 2023 edition, which kicks off on October 5 (Thursday) in India, would be a bigger achievement for Jos Buttler-led defending champions after their 2019 success. In the last edition, held in England and Wales, Morgan-led England won the ODI World Cup for the first time ever, beating New Zealand in terms of boundary count in an epic final at Lord's on July 14.

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Buttler-led England will start the tournament as one of the favourites. Morgan believes winning the title this time around would be a bigger achievement as he feels the white-ball captain Buttler has not had the same level of support in the build-up to this World Cup as Morgan had ahead of the 2019 edition. Back then, England were revamping their white-ball teams following a disastrous 2015 World Cup. Thus, the priority was white-ball cricket.

In recent times, Test cricket has regained priority in England cricket due to Ashes 2021/22 and Ashes 2023. A lot of times, Buttler has not been able to field the main XI with many being rested for Test cricket. Even in last year's T20 World Cup, which Buttler & Co. won in Australia, a lot of the regulars featured together after a long gap. Thus, Morgan believes it will be a bigger achievement for England to win this upcoming edition, which is also being played in unfamiliar conditions.

In his column for Sky Sports, Morgan wrote, "The challenges for me going into 2019 were completely different to what Jos has gone through coming into this tournament. Between 2015 and 2019, our sole focus was trying to win the ODI World Cup at home. There was a clear emphasis on having your best players available in the year leading up and trying to get absolute role clarity in every position possible. Jos has not had that."

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Also read: New Zealand's Tim Southee 'hoping to be right in time' post injury for ODI World Cup opener against England

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"All things considered, it would without a doubt be a bigger achievement for England to win this World Cup than when we won in 2019. The nature of the schedule has not allowed them to have the type of preparation they would like and being away from home, especially in India where India are so strong, is tough. Winning here would carry a lot more weight than winning at home. I am still extremely hopeful that England can defend the title, though," Morgan added.

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Winning the ODI World Cup is certainly not easy but defending it is much more difficult. Only West Indies (1975 and 1979) and Australia (who won three in a row in 1999, 2003 and 2007) have managed to defend their titles. Hence, England have a herculean task -- despite having one of the strongest squads -- to win the upcoming edition in India.

The one-time winners face New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, Ahmedabad in the CWC 2023 opener on Thursday afternoon.

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