Bridesmaid England will have it tough!

Hosts or no hosts, if England’s track record in a tournament of this magnitude is anything to go by, it is difficult to visualise them lifting the trophy on the evening of the 21st of June. I mean, I was never too good at history, and nor do I believe that history has anything to do with unravelling the mystery of the future, but the look of the English team does not inspire too much confidence; at least not enough to call them favourites to win the ICC World T20.

New series, new captain: While different captains for the different format is a trend that is very much out of vogue, the English selectors have no option but to go for this ‘multi-captaincy’ theory; especially after Kevin Pietersen had been given the marching orders. So, while Andrew Strauss was saddled with the responsibility of leading the side in tests, it was Paul Collingwood who coaxed and reinstated as the captain after having quit the set-up last year. So what do we have is the mantle of captaincy having passed around like a baton amongst Michael Vaughan, Collingwood, Pietersen, Strauss and then back to Collingwood. All in a span of a year or so.

Now, captaincy in this format does require a special skill-set, given its rapid-as-a-fighter-plane manoeuvres and it certainly is not about to get easier for Collingwood.

Will the cherry swing? One look at the English bowling, and it can be termed as ‘very English’! Only one frontline spinner makes it to the line-up in the form of Graeme Swann, while the next best is Pietersen, to be closely followed by Owais Shah; both with the expertise of the almost negligible kinds when it comes to slow bowling. And why not, it is the month of June in England, it is supposed to be cold and blustery, and the white ball is expected to swing and nip around like nobody’s business!

But one look at the warm-up games, and it can be safely assumed that while quick bowling may play a part, spinners will definitely have an equal, if not a bigger say in the proceedings. The lack of a genuine spinner, or even a part-timer who could bowl his quota of overs with a reasonable regularity could hit the English team very hard.

The saving grace in Bopara and Anderson: The English media’s uncanny knack of putting undue pressure on their sportsmen, notwithstanding, Ravi Bopara is definitely the batsman to look out for. His foray in the Indian Premier League showed sparks of brilliance which were finally ignited in the test series against West Indies where he went on to smash a couple of centuries with consummate ease. Agreed that the opposition will not be as reluctant as the one he encountered then, but the plain fact of the matter is that he is a man looking like being in ravishing form and could hope to turn the English fortunes around!

James Anderson, will be one of those who would hope for some swing and if it does, then the English could expect a repeat performance of the Chester-le-Street game against West Indies.

Pietersen’s form…and his mood! The two are inter-related; a good mood depending probably on which side of the bed Pietersen’s got out from could get the best out of his batting. The possibility of the converse happening is also true. In an interview recently, he made a pertinent point about himself, that, he isn’t a good enough batsman at the T20 level! But then, he couldn’t have a bigger stage to change that fact, and the signs are looking good for him after leading his team to a win in their first friendly over the Scots.

If only, he could get out of the right side of the bed now!

Suneer Chowdhary
Suneer is a freelance cricket writer and can be reached at suneerchowdhary (at) gmail dot com