Morgan’s all-round England are the team to beat

Hyderabad: England are one of the strongest teams coming into the T20 World Cup. Having won the 2019 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, the Eoin Morgan-led side hopes to clinch back-to-back ICC trophies. Most of the core group players in the current T20 side are part of the ODI World Cup winning team against New […]

Hyderabad: England are one of the strongest teams coming into the T20 World Cup. Having won the 2019 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, the Eoin Morgan-led side hopes to clinch back-to-back ICC trophies.

Most of the core group players in the current T20 side are part of the ODI World Cup winning team against New Zealand two years ago, which augurs well for the team. The team has emerged as a force to reckon with in the shortest format with good results in the recent past.
Having won the trophy in 2010, they were close to winning their second title last year. But they faltered against West Indies in the 2016 final with Carlos Brathwaite smashing Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes to clinch the title for the Windies.

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Coming into the showpiece event, the top-ranked team in the shortest format is on a good run winning T20 trophies against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. England have one of the strongest batting groups with the likes Jason Roy and Jos Buttler at the top and Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone (doubtful) and Morgan in the middle. With the presence of all-rounders like Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan, England have a batting order that runs deep.
Their bowling unit too has good variety with Woakes, Mark Wood, Jordan and Tymal Mills in the line-up. In Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, they have good slow-ball bowlers as well, who could prove vital in the spin-friendly tracks.

However, Morgan looked off colour with the bat in the Indian Premier League recently and his form puts question marks over his presence in the side. Buttler and Bairstow, who chose to stay away from the IPL in the UAE leg, are short of match practice. However, Morgan’s captaincy has been impressive and earned praises from none other Mahendra Singh Dhoni as his contribution to turn the tournament around of Kolkata Knight Riders is immense. He is an inspirational leader within the group.

England suffered a huge blow when Ben Stokes, who took a break from the game to address his mental health issues, and Jofra Archer were ruled out of the World Cup. Stokes is undoubtedly one of the best all-rounders and his presence could have added the extra spark. Sam Curran, the promising all-rounder, too suffered a niggle that forced him out of the event.
Despite several players missing, England have all their bases covered and enter the fray as one of the strong title contenders.

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