Paul Collingwood, England’s assistant coach said that England, the No 1 ranked T20I side in the world, has been in terrific form in the last 4 years and therefore they will be feared by all the other teams during the T20 World Cup.
Paul Collingwood feels that his team is likely to be feared by a lot of teams going into the T20 World Cup because of the kind of cricket that the team is playing at the moment.
Paul Collingwood: England Is Prepared For T20I World Cup And Will Be Feared By Opposition Teams
England is currently the No 1 ranked T20I side in the world and is levelled 2-2 with India in a five-match series in Ahmedabad, with the decider to be played on Saturday. Paul Collingwood said that England has multiple match-winners and that will help them in their T20 World Cup campaign.
“Going into this World Cup I think we will be feared by a lot of teams because of our white-ball form for the past four years. We’ve got a lot of match winners from one to 11, who can win games from their own bat. Totally different teams from 2010 to now, but I don’t think we could be in a better place. The team in 2010 was a team that came together right at the last moment, and we took a few risks, gambles on selection.”
“We knew what kind of cricket we wanted to play but it hadn’t been drilled into us over a long period of time like this team has. I think this team is better prepared,” Collingwood told British media on the eve of their T20I series-decider against India.
England won their only T20 World Cup title under Paul Collingwood’s captaincy in 2010. The likes of Ravi Bopara, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright, and Eoin Morgan played in that tournament. In the final, England beat Australia by 7 wickets chasing 148.
Paul Collingwood: Never Feel One Wins World Cup By Being Conservative
Paul Collingwood further said that the success mantra of their white-ball teams lies in playing an aggressive brand of cricket. England is one of the favourites to win the 2021 T20I World Cup being the No. 1 ranked T20I team.
“I never feel you win World Cups, big tournaments by being conservative. You’ve got to be ahead of the game. This team has done that over the past four years, which drilled into being aggressive.You’ve got to have a lot of bravery to do it in the big games. Tomorrow’s (Saturday’s 5th T20I against India) another example. Hopefully, we can go out there and play our usual aggressive cricket and of course adapt to the conditions.
“That’s how they want to play and that’s how you put teams under pressure whether you’re playing the first game or in the final. That is our mantra,” he added.
This time in 2021 they have the likes of Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, and Mark Wood in their squad which makes it an enviable squad.
The last time the T20 World Cup was played in 2016, England just missed out on their opportunity to win their second title. Carlos Braithwaite broke the hearts of all English fans as Ben Stokes wasn’t able to keep his nerve. However, five years since then, Ben Stokes has won a World Cup for England(2019 50 overs World Cup) and his team has become one of the favourites to take home the 2021 title.