England eye good start

Holders take on gritty Afghanistan in their opener

As England kick start their defence of the World T20 title with their Group ‘A’ match against Afghanistan on Friday, a certain Kevin Pietersen looms large uncomfortably in the background even in his absence from the squad.

It was largely on the strength of man-of-the-series Pietersen’s fireworks and his more than handy off-spinners that England were able to break their ICC title duck as they overcame their fancied rivals Australia in the final of the 2010 edition in the Caribbean. Ironically, though, the maverick cricketer is missing from England’s squad for reasons that are nothing to do with his game.

The right-hander, however, won’t be far away from the action. A studio expert with the host broadcasters, the former England skipper will be watching every bit of England’s game and analysing it. Be that as it may, the biggest beneficiary of Pietersen’s exclusion - Alex Hales –made an immediate impression with a 38-ball 52 against Australia during a warm-up game and England will be pinning their hopes on a plethora of such young batsmen, many of whom have little knowledge of playing in the sub-continent.

England could have done with someone like Pietersen, a hot property in the IPL, in their ranks but they will hope the experience of players like Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright would bail them out. England also have had an encouraging preparation for the tournament as they drew their one-day and T20 series against South Africa back home and won both their practice matches here.

England can thus say with some authority that they have handled the conditions with a certain degree of comfort. That’s, however, true more for the batsmen than the bowlers.  Led by skipper Stuart Broad, England will also have to get their bowling combination right on surfaces that aren’t exactly to their liking. Afgha­nistan coach Kabir Khan has already fired a first salvo at them, claiming that England’s pace heavy attack would struggle in these conditions.

“England are a totally different team compared to India,” Khan said after his team ran India close in the opening match on Wednesday. “They are ‘conditional’ bowlers, they bowl very well in England but they struggled outside and they have obviously struggled in Asia and we are going to exploit that.”

While admitting that spin will be a factor in this part of the world, Broad maintained that it was just part of other challenges they would face here. England do have world-class spinner in Graeme Swann but rookie left-arm spinner Danny Briggs came in for some punishment during Australia’s practice match. “Obviously, the first six overs against the new ball are important. A lot to do with T20 wins has to do with how many wickets you lose in the first six. We have got a really good bowling unit who look strong in both defending and attacking early. We have been working hard on spin and that’s the conditions we have been faced with here.”