2021 ICC T20 World Cup Team Preview: England
ICC T20 World Cup: Stoke-less England eye glory in UAE
The 2021 edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup is set to begin in less than 10 days’ time and excitement amongst the fans is gradually increasing.
The tournament will feature 12 teams in the main round who will compete for the ultimate prize of lifting the trophy on November 14 in Dubai.
England will enter the competition as one of the favourites, largely because of their success in white-ball cricket in the recent past.
The 2019 ICC World Cup winners were extremely close to securing their second World T20 title in 2016 but Carlos Brathwaite turned the game in the matter of just four deliveries.
However, since then, the English team have proved themselves as a real powerhouse in limited overs cricket and many will be expecting them to go all the way this time around.
Record in T20Is:
England have a very decent record in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where they have played eight T20Is and despite conditions being not in their favour, they went on to win six and suffered just two defeats.
Over the last two years, the reigning 50-over world champions have won 18 matches in 28 outings with just nine defeats whereas one match ended with no result.
In the competition’s history, England have played 32 matches where they won 15 times and suffered 16 defeats whereas one game ended without a result.
The Three Lions, under the leadership of all-rounder Paul Collingwood, were the winners in the 2010 edition which was hosted by West Indies where they thrashed arch-rivals Australia in the final.
Batting department:
England’s dominance in white-ball cricket since 2015 is being revolved around their batting and that is likely to be the case this time around as well.
However, the management will be concerned with the form of captain Eoin Morgan who is currently representing the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has only managed to score 37 runs in eight innings in the UAE-leg.
The English team will also miss the likes of star all-rounder Ben Stokes who took an indefinite break from cricket.
Therefore, in the batting department, the team will be relying on the likes of explosive openers Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, left-hander Dawid Malan and all-rounders Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes to post a respectable total on the board.
Bowling:
England’s bowling unit looks well-balanced with nearly all of their bases covered. The pace department will be led by fast-bowlers Chris Jordan, who will be accompanied by the likes of Mark Wood, Woakes, Tom Curran and Tymal Mills, all of whom have an ability to claim crucial wickets and contain runs as well.
The spin department consist of two experienced pros in Adil Rashid and Ali who will be more than handy in conditions where there is some assistance for the spinners.
Opponents:
England are placed in Group 1 alongside Australia, South Africa and West Indies whereas two teams will join them after the qualifying round.
The Eoin Morgan-led unit’s first match will be on October 23 against the defending champions in Dubai whereas their last round-robin fixture will be against the Proteas on November 6 in Sharjah.
