![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletter\/sport\/sport-135x135.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
England\u2019s head coach Matthew Mott has revealed how the side\u2019s \u201cspiritual leader\u201d Ben Stokes stepped in to rally the dressing room after their shock World Cup defeat by Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Stokes, who came out of one-day retirement to help defend the trophy he did more than anyone to win in 2019, has yet to feature in India after suffering a hip injury on the the eve of the tournament.<\/p>\n
But Sunday\u2019s upset in Delhi, where a side whose only previous win on this stage was a narrow one against Scotland eight years ago, led Stokes to address his team-mates during a dressing room debrief.<\/p>\n
Test captain Stokes is on track to return in Saturday\u2019s must-win clash against South Africa at Mumbai\u2019s Wankhede Stadium, but has already made his presence felt behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like the spiritual leader of the group in many ways and he certainly spoke really well after the game the other day,\u201d said Mott.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe spoke about that need to really assert ourselves, which he\u2019s renowned for. I said \u2018I\u2019ve got this\u2019 and just spoke, talked about the plan going forward for the next few days, and then Stokesy came in on the back of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really reinforced what was a great message, particularly for someone who\u2019s sitting on the bench and has a bit of a different lens on things. I think it went down well, it brought us back to controlling what we can control, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mott\u2019s own attempt at diagnosing England\u2019s problems saw him suggest that the defending champions were suffering from a lack of self-belief.<\/p>\n
Having become the most swaggering side on the planet during their reinvention from also-rans to world champions under Eoin Morgan, England looked uncharacteristically tentative in their losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that confidence… puff your chest out, go out there and really take the game on<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t lose your ability overnight but you can lose your confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that confidence\u2026 puff your chest out, go out there and really take the game on, which this team has been renowned for over a long period of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn reflection we\u2019ve been the reactive team in those two games, so we need to turn that round really quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was one of Stokesy\u2019s biggest points \u2013 we\u2019re normally the team that dictates terms and gets the other team unsettled, disrupted and for whatever reason we haven\u2019t been able to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always been on the back foot, trying to pull things back. What we need to do is dominate those first 15 overs whether we bat first or bowl first in the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brendon McCullum, Mott\u2019s red-ball counterpart and joint architect of England\u2019s \u2018Bazball\u2019 approach in the Test arena, made an unexpected appearance at the team\u2019s Mumbai hotel on Tuesday after arriving on business.<\/p>\n
McCullum memorably said on his appointment last year that he was not interested in the limited-overs job on account of it being too simple in contrast to reviving the Test team, a position Mott suggested may no longer stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just saw him down in the foyer and he said exactly the opposite!\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018do you want to do a little swap?\u2019 We had a good chat and good catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stokes\u2019 likely return \u2013 which is all but certain provided he pulls up well after a thorough workout on Thursday \u2013 means Mott must grapple with a thorny selection issue.<\/p>\n
Harry Brook has been keeping his spot warm and would ordinarily be expected to drop out, but his fluent 66 was easily England\u2019s best innings against the Afghans and made a strong case for his retention.<\/p>\n
Experienced seamer Chris Woakes and all-rounder Sam Curran are both vulnerable after struggling badly for form thus far, but with Stokes currently unavailable to bowl that only muddies the waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still up for debate. We\u2019ll have some really good, robust conversations over the next 24 hours,\u201d Mott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to sit down as a selection group, get the numbers, get some theories out there. We\u2019ll normally get to two or three XIs and then debate it, so all things are on the table at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Willey and Gus Atkinson are waiting if England do decide to cut Woakes after three poor outings in a row, but Mott is not ready to draw an emphatic line under the long-time leader of the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the history of Woakes\u2019 career, he\u2019s come out on top a lot more than he\u2019s missed out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t been at his best, and he\u2019s the first to admit it, but he\u2019s got a few credits in the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n