There is an uncanny similarity between India and England in this T20 World Cup.
Both teams have lost one match each while never being able to generate a degree of invincibility around them.
England will have plans to counter a resurgent Sanju Samson with Jofra Archer’s pace. The opener had only 51 runs from five innings in the five-match T20I series a year ago while being dismissed by Archer thrice.
Harry Brook is looking at the positives. “We’ve obviously had a lot of tight fixtures and we’ve managed to scrape along,” the England captain said. “The unity we have, the belief in each other, the belief that we can win games when we do get into those pressure situations and the calmness that we’ve had has been outstanding.”
Needing 43 from the last 18 balls to beat New Zealand last Friday, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed put on an unbroken partnership of 44 from 16 to secure victory.
He agreed such situations bolster confidence. “Yeah, massive confidence. Like I said, we don’t feel like we’re ever out of a game,” Brook said.
“All it takes is one of the top seven to get a decent score or one of our five or six bowlers to have an amazing day out there. And all of a sudden you’re walking away with a victory and that’s what we’ve done so well so far. Everybody’s kind of chipped in that game against New Zealand...”
Jos Buttler’s poor run has been a talking point but Brook isn’t looking much into it. But how does he deal with it?
“You don’t have to talk to him too much. I think leaving him alone is probably the best thing to do,” said Brook.” He’s been a powerhouse for many years. I’ve been asked this question thousands of times now and I just think there should be no reason to question why he’s in the team.”
