England or India - which preliminary 2024 T20 World Cup squad is stronger?
Both India and England have named their preliminary 2024 T20 World Cup squads for the ICC event to be held in the United States and the West Indies from June 1 to June 29.
While the Men in Blue won the inaugural Men's T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa, England are the defending champions, having won the 2022 edition in Australia.
Team India will be led by Rohit Sharma in the 2024 T20 World Cup, while England will be captained by Jos Buttler. The two leaders were also in charge of their respective sides in 2022.
If we look at the ICC T20 Men’s team rankings, the Men in Blue are in first place with 264 rating points, while the Englishmen are third with 252 rating points.
They are separated by Australia (257 points). With India and England announcing their preliminary squads for the T20 World Cup 2024, we analyze which beat looks stronger on paper.
Batting might of India and England
If we compare the batting might of India and England for the 2024 T20 World Cup, both teams have robust resources.
Looking at the Men in Blue first, apart from skipper Rohit, they have picked Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.
Rohit's IPL 2024 form is a concern, but India will back him to come good on the big stage. As for Kohli, he has been in sensational form for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and will be expected to continue batting in the same vein. Suryakumar, who has made an impressive comeback from injury, will remain a vital cog in the middle order.
India have decided to go in with Jaiswal as Rohit's opening partner ahead of Shubman Gill. Jaiswal has played some terrific knocks in a short career but will be on test in his maiden senior ICC event.
Pant and Samson have been named as the two keeper-batters. Both have been in excellent form for their respective franchises in IPL 2024 and will strengthen the Indian batting.
If we look at England, they have a power-packed batting line-up led by skipper Buttler. Jonny Bairstow has rediscovered his form in time and could prove dangerous at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Phil Salt has been sensational for Kolkata in the IPL and, before that, for England as well in the T20 format.
In Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone, the defending champions have two more destructive batters, who can singlehandedly win T20 matches. There's Harry Brook as well, who has proved his worth as a batter across formats.
If we compare the batting resources of the two sides, England undoubtedly have greater firepower for the 2024 T20 World Cup even though India have many star names in their line-up.
Bowling capability of India and England
Shifting our focus to the bowling department, India have gone in with three frontline seamers in Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, while left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also find a place in the 15.
Bumrah has been brilliant as usual in the IPL. However, the form of Arshdeep and Siraj is a concern. Arshdeep has been inconsistent for Punjab Kings, and while Siraj came up with a Player of the Match performance in RCB’s recent win, it is important for him to maintain that rhythm.
Kuldeep has been doing a great job with the ball for the past year and a half across formats. However, Chahal's form in the last few IPL matches would concern the team management, as he looked pretty pedestrian.
England have picked Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley and Tom Hartley among their main bowlers. On paper, it looks like a strong attack. However, Archer's injury woes are a massive concern. Wood can rip through opponents on his day, but his fitness too has always been dodgy.
Among others, Jordan is inconsistent, while left-arm pacer Topley can be a match-winner on his day. His consistency, though, is also a bit of a question mark. Leg-spinner Rashid was brilliant in the 2022 edition and will be expected to do an encore.
Again, England look stronger on paper in this department heading into the T20 World Cup. But the fitness issues of their bowlers neutralize their advantage to some extent.
All-round ability of India and England
Looking at the all-round prowess of the two sides, Team India have picked Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as their all-rounders.
Pandya has recently returned from injury but has been poor in the IPL. But India have not only backed his experience, they have also named him the vice-captain for the T20 World Cup.
Jadeja and Axar offer similar talents. Both can keep things tight with the ball and can contribute significantly with the willow.
Jadeja, though, has struggled with the bat lately in the T20 format. However, he remains a gun fielder, and that might give him an edge over Axar.
As for Dube, he has been picked as an all-rounder, but his selection has primarily been on the basis of his batting ability and current form.
England, meanwhile, have picked the experienced duo of Sam Curran and Moeen Ali as their main all-rounders. Both have the ability to win matches with both bat and ball, but they will definitely miss the genius Ben Stokes. Further, pacer Jordan can chip in with some lusty blows with the willow, while the big-hitting Livingstone is a more than handy spinner.
It would be fair to surmise that India have a slight edge over England when it comes to all-rounders in the squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Overall, though, the Englishmen look the stronger of the two sides for the ICC event.