T20 World Cup 2021, Team Preview – England

England will enter the 2021 T20 World Cup with the agony of missing out on a title by a whisker. They would not want to remember that night from five years ago, but Carlos Braithwaite’s “remember the name” assault is indelibly emblazoned in the cricketing folklore. As is the view of a numb Ben Stokes, sitting down on his haunches, trying to come to terms with an inexplicable, glory-snatching attack.

In the time elapsed, England have named themselves a 50-over World Cup glory in 2019. Backing up that success after the near-misses of 2016 is understandably the 2021 agenda. Anyways, for a side ranked No. 1 in the format, aiming anything lesser than grabbing the silverware would be underwhelming goal-setting.

Build-up form

England have recent T20I series victories against each one of the Group 1 counterparts. They defeated Australia 2-1 at home in September last year, before blanking South Africa 3-0 away from home in November-December. Though not recent, they clean-swept West Indies – their opening game rivals – 3-0 away, in the two sides’ last bilateral affair (March 2019).

In 2021, England won seven of their 11 completed T20Is across three series, the most recent of which was against Pakistan, who they defeated 2-1 at home in July, only a month after rolling over Sri Lanka 3-0, also at home. England started the year with a 2-3 loss during the India tour in March.

They were to travel Bangladesh and Pakistan in the lead-up to the 2021 World Cup, although their Bangladesh tour has been pushed back to 2023, whereas the ECB pulled the plugs on the Pakistan tour citing bubble fatigue and players’ mental health.

Eight members of their 15-strong squad were active at least once during the UAE leg of the IPL 2021. Those who were not are: Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes (all three pulled out of the second leg), Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Tymal Mills and David Willey. However, each squad member got some game time thanks to the warm-ups where England lost against India (October 18) before winning New Zealand (October 20).

Strengths 

Explosive, fearless batting with immense depth remains England’s biggest strength. They have enough ballast at the top with the likes of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, each more destructive than the other on their day, while the batting depth of the line-up is insured by Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, David Willey. Not to mention Dawid Malan, the No. 1 in the format currently.

The names ensure that England are neither a top-heavy team that runs out of gas if wickets fall early nor are they solely reliant on the middle or lower order to provide impetus to the innings. While scoring runs in the powerplay and death overs has been the most common template amongst all T20 teams, England have successfully managed to boss the crucial phase where the games are most often won and lost: the middle-overs. No team has a better scoring rate than their 8.72 in overs 7-15 since January 2019.

Weaknesses

Despite being the No. 1 ranked side, England have a few areas of concern, none bigger than captain Eoin Morgan’s form. He tallied 133 in the 2021 IPL at 11.08 from 17 fixtures at a strike rate below 100. In the UAE leg, the highest Morgan scored was an unbeaten 13, the only instance he even touched double-digits in ten games. So grave has been the rut that thoughts of dropping himself from the XI have already flashed in his mind – certainly not how the captain of a team billed to lift the title should be thinking.

But rather ironically, England’s biggest weakness is also their biggest strength: struggling-with-the-bat Morgan is a master tactician. His captaincy acumen was only recently displayed when he led Kolkata Knight Riders to runners-up IPL finish after resuming the second leg being down in the dumps.

Flexibility 

The bigger concern for England is what they do not have going into the tournament: all-rounder Ben Stokes continues his indefinite break owing to mental health; Jofra Archer is out with an elbow injury, whereas Sam Curran’s eleventh-hour back injury has forced him out, with brother Tom Curran named as his replacement.

Mark Wood’s express pace can be a like-for-like replacement for the absent Archer but the biggest void is that of Stokes, whose absence has dented England’s flexibility in each one of the three departments, with the unit relying on Chris Woakes to fill in for Stokes.

England will also need to carefully manoeuvre their spin bowling resources, with Adil Rashid – the joint leading wicket-taker (12 wickets from seven games, ER 7.68) in The Hundred – being the only designated player for that role alongside all-rounders Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone.

To the end of flexibility, no one contributes more than Moeen, who can be used as a floater – he aced the No. 3 position for CSK, while his ability to bat lower down the order as a finisher is well-documented. England will have such a rotational option open for Jos Buttler, too, who can well be opener and finisher.

However, he is the likeliest contender to partner Jason Roy at the top, with Jonny Bairstow slotted in the middle-order. Tymal Mills, who comes back into the fore after 2017 on the back of impressive performances in The Hundred and T20 Blast, is England’s insurance for death bowling alongside Chris Jordan, who, despite being a wicket-taker at the death, has a T20 career economy of 9.49 in overs 16-20.

Adaptability 

England have batters who can tackle spin and pace with equal panache. Although, despite having established themselves as one of the better sides when it comes to playing spin, the low, slow pitch in Sharjah, where England play two of their five games, will pose a challenge. The scoring patterns in Sharjah have turned dramatically this year, with spinners ruling the roost notwithstanding the short boundaries. For a pace-heavy side like theirs, the primary wicket-taking responsibility in these games would lie on Rashid and Moeen, with some assistance for the new-ball bowlers first up.

Before going there, though, England play two games in Dubai, and one in Abu Dhabi sandwiched in between. Given four of their fixtures are night games, they will have to be watchful for dew playing a role. Although, England would be happy that their only day encounter comes in Abu Dhabi, where dew played a role more significant than the other two venues in this year’s IPL, with chasing teams dominating the winning record. The afternoon game negates the dew factor, while the bigger boundaries in Abu Dhabi will keep both spinners and pacers interested.

Dubai, on the other hand, where the average score has hovered around the 150-160 mark in the IPL this year, has been a happy hunting ground for pacers when compared to other UAE venues. The challenge for the team remains the uneven boundary dimensions but this venue is likely to suit England’s type of batting and bowling.

Probable Finish

Semi-finals? Sure. Finals? Maybe.

England Fixtures – Super12, Group 1

October 23 – England vs West Indies in Dubai at 19:30 hours (IST)

October 27 – England vs B2 in Abu Dhabi at 15:30 hours (IST)

October 30 – England vs Australia in Dubai at 19:30 hours (IST)

November 1 – England vs A1 in Sharjah at 19:30 hours (IST)

November 6 – England vs South Africa in Sharjah at 19:30 hours (IST)

England T20 World Cup 2021 Squad

Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Reserves: Liam Dawson, James Vince