"It's going to be a litmus test" - Aakash Chopra on opportunity for England in 2024 T20 World Cup
Aakash Chopra has noted that the 2024 T20 World Cup presents a great opportunity for England to become the first team to retain the global title in the shortest format. He added that it will be a massive test for Jos Buttler and company as they endured an underwhelming run in last year's ODI World Cup.
England will face Australia in their second Group B game in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday, June 8. Their tournament opener didn't yield a result as the game was abandoned due to rain after Scotland posted 90 for no loss in 10 overs while batting first.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that England have a great opportunity in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
"What is the opportunity? There hasn't been a team to date that has successfully defended their T20 World Cup title. So it's going to be a litmus test for them because the ODI World Cup was not good for this team. It was a well below-par World Cup. They have reached here with an almost similar team to the one that played two years ago," he elaborated (7:30).
The former India opener reckons spin bowling is England's potential weakness.
"Is there any weakness visible? In the spin department, who apart from Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali? Moeen Ali is not bowling that much. It seems like they might be a spinner short because they are forced to bowl Liam Livingstone a lot. They can also get Will Jacks to bowl but do they lack a little in spin bowling variation? Is that a slight weakness?" Chopra said (7:00).
Chopra noted that Saturday's clash against Australia is crucial for England. He pointed out that a loss against their arch-rivals will virtually leave the two-time champions with no further chances of a slip-up.
"There is a lot of depth in batting" - Aakash Chopra on England's strengths
Aakash Chopra chose England's batting depth as their biggest strength.
"This is a very good side. There is a lot of depth in batting. This team's biggest strength is the depth in batting because Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow down the order, Will Jacks in the middle, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Jordan - they have plenty of firepower available to them," he observed (6:00).
The reputed commentator picked the plethora of all-rounders and varied seam-bowling attack as the defending champions' other positives.
"After that, they have all-rounders. All keepers are proper batters. Then they have Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Will Jacks as all-rounders. In fact, people also call Chris Jordan an all-rounder. They have variation in pace, whether it is Mark Wood's pace, Jofra Archer's sharpness, Chris Jordan's death bowling, and Sam Curran. So they have the variety in pace," Chopra stated.
Sam Curran wasn't part of England's playing XI against Scotland. Their bowlers were found slightly wanting as they failed to pick up a wicket in 10 overs and will want to give a better account of themselves against Australia.