T20 World Cup 2022: "They might lose their place trying to make a place for Stokes" - Aakash Chopra on England's weaknesses
Aakash Chopra feels England could lose their way while trying to accommodate Ben Stokes in their batting order at the T20 World Cup 2022.
England are placed in Group 1 of the Super 12 stage alongside Australia, New Zealand, Afghanistan and the two teams who will come through the qualifying stage. They will predominantly rely on their powerful batting lineup to take them all the way in the tournament.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Stokes' indifferent T20 form could prove to be England's stumbling block. He elaborated:
"Their recent form is not good. Ben Stokes does not have amazing T20 form. They want to make Ben Stokes bat up the order but everything does not happen by making him bat up the order. It could be a problem that they might lose their place trying to make a place for Stokes."
Stokes, who has already retired from ODI cricket, did not have a great T20I series against Australia. He managed just 33 runs across the three games, although he played a decent 36-run knock in the warm-up match against Pakistan.
"They don't have many wicket-takers" - Aakash Chopra on England's other weakness
Chopra reckons England's bowling could be their other Achilles heel. He said:
"I see their bowling to be slightly weak. They don't have many wicket-takers. All bowlers are slightly expensive. They reach till 190-200 but they let them get scored as well, this is that kind of a team."
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that most of England's bowlers have proved expensive lately. He observed:
"If we talk about the story of the last 12 months, Rashid has picked up 24 wickets in 20 matches at an economy of 7.5, Ali 19 wickets in 20 matches at an economy of 8.5, Jordan 17 wickets in 16 matches at an economy of 8.5. No one gets hit at less than 8.5 to 10 here."
Chopra feels Mark Wood and Adil Rashid are the only two potent weapons in Jos Buttler's bowling arsenal. He stated:
"David Willey picks up a lot of wickets, so he will probably start. Reece Topley is not there now, so who will start instead of him? Sam Curran, this team has a lot of bowling options but I don't see a runaway wicket-taker other than Mark Wood and Adil Rashid."
England losing Reece Topley is a big concern for them. Was good both in the PP and at the end. It weakens England's weaker arm. So too is the loss of Chameera for Sri Lanka. I thought he was the key bowler in that line-up
Chopra concluded by pointing out that Rashid has also been trying to do something different by bowling around the wicket. The renowned commentator added that the leg-spinner will not be able to pick up wickets if he continues to do so, although he might remain economical.