Published: Mar 14, 2016, 12:47 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 14, 2016, 03:33 PM (IST)
With five wins in as many games in a year in which India and Australia did not play enough Twenty20 cricket, England emerged as a very strong outfit in the short formats in 2015. Among England’s wins was a very successful tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as far as limited-overs cricket is concerned, as they blanked Pakistan 3-0 in a three-match T20 International (T20I) series. England even won their four-match One-Day International (ODI) series 3-1, which marked a drastic improvement in the shorter formats after having a terrible ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia, wherein they were knocked out of the first round. ALSO READ England team in ICC T20 World Cup 2016, Preview: England will look to emulate 2010 triumph
If England’s chances in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2016 are to be based on their recent performances in limited-overs cricket, the assessment is unlikely to arrive at a fair conclusion. Not because England are still frail — for that matter even the champion sides carry niggles. But their recent surge can be misleading as even on the 2012 tour of UAE they had defeated Pakistan, after losing the Test series.
England, for some reason, have had an ordinary build-up to the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. Not because they lost to South Africa in the away series, but it has been a lot different that their usual methods of preparations whenever a global tournament has come around. For example, for the ICC World Cup 2015, England played only and only 50-over cricket, starting as early as in August 2014.
England’s nightmare (indeed a drab word for the horror they went through) in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 had several factors, but they must be credited for being bold, forward-thinking, and for making considerable progress. The very fact that England kept aside their pride of being an excellent Test side and concentrated on making amends in shorter formats deserves applause. ALSO READ: England must not fret over recent defeats to South Africa in limited-overs cricket
Deserving praise is one thing and being a consistently winning side is another. England were of course burned out by the time T20Is arrived on the South Africa tour and the hosts were able to make most of that. England certainly have had a decent break and time to regroup, but the challenges that ICC World T20 2016 poses are far too many.
To start with, the ICC World Cup 2015 drilled in everyone’s heads that England were behind many years when it came to limited-overs cricket. Indeed, they have taken necessary steps to bounce back, but their age-old problems of struggling on flat decks, not being able to match their opponents skill wise, and fizzling out in key moments.
ICC World T20 2016 will prove how much England have improved realistically, as they are placed alongside dangerous teams such as South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and even Afghanistan. The Asian team has been taking giant strides, and both the groups there cannot be any room for complacency for England in case they tend to relax.
There is one factor which differentiates England from the other top teams and it is likely to have a major impact on this tournament: IPL experience. Even Australia, who have had a poor build-up to the tournament, can boast about their men knowing theses conditions. But not England, who have a battery of young players who are charismatic but at the end of the day still finding their feet in international cricket.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
