For a country with one of the oldest established domestic Twenty20 competitions, England’s performance in the World T20 hasn’t met expectations, except when they emerged champions in 2010 in the West Indies.

But England under Trevor Bayliss and Eoin Morgan have been a totally different outfit. No meek surrender, no dearth of aggression and an ability to treat any situation as possible.

Bayliss has lots of T20 experience in India and has twice coached the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title. He knows how to win in subcontinent conditions and has spent two weeks back home in Australia pondering about his team and finalising strategy.

England’s bold, aggressive style after last winter's meek first-round exit from the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand has won them many  games and plaudits.

England’s aggressive batting has been the hallmark of their play since that tournament, but sometimes they need to read situations better.

Bayliss believes that the team has to stick to their gameplan despite the losses suffered in South Africa. “I can guarantee you one thing, the team that wins the World T20 will be the boldest team there. They will be the team that goes out and plays good positive aggressive cricket,” England's head coach said recently.

“India will be a perfect example where there are smaller grounds and perfect outfields and all you have to do is play good shots. I think the batters will be able to bat for longer and the longer you bat the easier it is to score runs.”

One man who would add more brains to England’s batting without necessarily slowing down the run rate is James Vince. The 24-year-old was the Man of the Series when Morgan’s men beat Pakistan 3-0 in the T20I series in the UAE last November.

Steven Finn’s injury (left calf strain) has come as a huge blow to England. His extra pace and bounce could have come in handy as that could have deterred the batsmen from lunging on to the front foot.

There is no place for Stuart Broad — another veteran of the 2010 campaign — who has not played a 20-over match for England since 2014.  

Captain Morgan is the only survivor from England’s victorious campaign in the West Indies in 2010, with England choosing, as expected, to overlook Kevin Pietersen despite his impressive form in the Big Bash League.

Reece Topley and David Willey, the left-arm seamers who have been England’s regular new-ball pairing in 50-over cricket, will be there with Chris Jordan and all-rounder Ben Stokes providing England’s other fast-bowling options. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will be in charge of the spin department with Liam Dawson for company.

But it will be Stokes’s power hitting that will be of great importance. Only recently the Durham man blast the fastest-ever Test match 250 on the recent tour of South Africa. 

The 24-year-old will be playing his first world tournament for the country after missing out on the 2014 edition due to a locker room punch-up while being dropped by the selectors for the 2015 World Cup.

The all-rounder made headlines during England’s tour of the West Indies in 2014 when he injured his hand after striking the dressing room locker in anger and frustration. 

Despite losing the one-day International and the T20 series against South Africa, Stokes said the team will stick to the new aggressive approach.

“There’s no reason to change because of those two games. 

“The first one we lost on the last ball when we shouldn’t have been anywhere near winning. Then, in the next game we got AB de Villiered. Every team has suffered that.”

Morgan was optimistic too. “Within the group, there’s a lot of talent and match-winners. The winning run did not necessarily happen in South Africa. But we are positive, which is very good coming into this tournament,” Morgan said on arrival in India.

England are drawn with South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and the winners of Group B qualifiers. 

England’s backroom staff is also equally impressive.  Despite the recent furore, Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka captain, will once again join the coaching team for the first ten days of the tournament as a consultant, with Paul Collingwood, England’s trophy-winning captain in 2010. They will be working alongside Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Ottis Gibson.

Jayawardene’s knowledge of the conditions, no doubt, will be of immense help to the England batsmen. Morgan’s need to live up to their promise and deliver this time.

 

The squad

Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey.