Jos Buttler believes the weight of history suggests India are clear-cut favourites to win the World Cup on home soil despite England’s considerable experience of the conditions.
Staging the showpiece in recent years has come with a distinct advantage as the last three editions – India in 2011, Australia in 2015 and England in 2019 – have all been won by the host nation.
England may be double world champions, but even a side that turbocharged the white-ball formats have fallen short in India, losing keenly contested ODI and T20 series both in early 2017 and spring 2021.
While Buttler is bullish about England’s fortunes, he rates an India side that have won 14 of their last 16 ODI series on their own patch as well as the Asia Cup earlier this month as the team to beat.
“The clear favourites are India,” Buttler told the PA news agency. “You only have to look at the past few World Cups – England won in England, Australia won in Australia and India won in India before that.
“History tells you that it’s quite advantageous to be the home nation and they’re obviously a brilliant team. In their own conditions, India are fantastic. I certainly see them as favourites.
“We’re going out there to try to win a World Cup – we don’t see ourselves as defending champions. It’s very much a new tournament and we know it’s going to be tough because there are some top, top teams.
“But we know we’re a really good team, a dangerous team, we’ve got a lot of experience in the group and we back ourselves.”
England have arrived in Guwahati ahead of three warm-ups which will act as final preparation for the tournament opener against New Zealand – a rematch of the 2019 final – in Ahmedabad next Thursday.
Their 15-strong squad contains eight members of the side that went all the way four years ago, while Gus Atkinson is an outlier as the only one who has not featured in the Indian Premier League.
A number of others including Buttler, an IPL regular since 2016, have substantial knowledge of what to expect in India which England’s limited-overs captain hopes they can exploit.
Speaking to promote England’s official kit supplier Castore extending its ‘summer of sport’ campaign to highlight key occasions such as the World Cup, Buttler said: “It gives you a sense of familiarity.
“A lot of the cricket grounds we’ll play at, guys will have played there and know the surroundings. They will understand the pitches and conditions, more so than if they’d not been there before.
“There’s a lot of other teams that have that advantage as well with guys playing a lot of IPL cricket, it’s been around for quite a few years now so everyone’s accustomed to playing in India in that sense.”
Jofra Archer will be England’s only travelling reserve as he completes his rehabilitation from the latest stress fracture in his right elbow that ruled him out of the entire summer schedule.
He will not be ready to make his return until at least the latter stages of the tournament, raising the prospect of him making a dramatic comeback if injury strikes one of England’s quick bowlers.
While England are cautious over rushing back the bowler who was entrusted with the super over that led to them being crowned world champions for the first time, Buttler is delighted to have Archer in tow.
“He’s someone who will go on and have so much impact for England,” Buttler added. “Everyone is hopeful this will be the end of his injuries and we can see him back on the park more consistently.
“He’s such a superstar, you want to see these guys perform, he’s someone who puts bums on seats.”
:: Jos Buttler was speaking to promote Castore, the official kit suppliers of the England cricket team, investing in an extension to its national brand marketing campaign. For more information, visit https://castore.com
Cricket West Indies to reveal squad for ICC T20 World Cup Friday, May 3
Cricket West Indies (CWI) is gearing up to unveil its squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup during a highly anticipated live press conference in Barbados on Friday, May 3. The event will feature CWI's Lead Selector, the Most Honourable Dr. Desmond Haynes, and Head Coach Daren Sammy alongside CWI Chief Executive Officer Johnny Grave.
In a statement, Johnny Grave expressed the organization's excitement about the impending announcement and highlighted the decision to host a live press conference as a means to directly engage with fans and media.
"Emphasizing the significance of this moment, we chose to host a live press conference to engage with fans and media directly. We also requested permission from the ICC to align our announcement with this event," said Johnny Grave.
The announcement comes amidst increasing excitement as local box offices across the region open on Thursday, May 2, allowing fans to secure their tickets for the tournament. Additionally, CWI will be releasing the official tournament song on the same day, further adding to the anticipation building around the event.
"Excitement is mounting as local box offices open across the region on Thursday, May 2, and we are equally thrilled to release the official tournament song on the same day. Anticipation is building, and we can't wait to share this journey with cricket enthusiasts worldwide," Grave added.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, set to commence on June 1, will be co-hosted in the Caribbean and the United States, culminating with the finals scheduled to take place in Barbados. With preparations in full swing, CWI's squad announcement promises to be a significant moment in the lead-up to this highly anticipated global cricketing event. Stay tuned for the unveiling of the squad and the exciting journey ahead for Cricket West Indies at the ICC T20 World Cup.
IPL: Punjab Kings spinners frustrate CSK in routine win
Punjab Kings eased to back-to-back wins in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday, their spinners doing the damage as they claimed a seven-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings.
The Kings chased down an IPL-record of 262 with eight balls to spare to beat Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, but they didn't need anywhere near that level of big hitting to clinch their first set of consecutive victories this year.
Spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar made it a far more comfortable outing for Punjab, finishing with two wickets apiece and giving up just 33 runs between them through eight overs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad did his best to keep CSK in it with his 62 off 48 balls, but they always looked unlikely to defend a middling score of 162, particularly when Deepak Chahar pulled up two deliveries into the Punjab innings and walked gingerly from the field.
Richard Gleeson dismissed Prabhsimran Singh for 13 on his IPL debut, but that was as good as it got for Chennai as Jonny Bairstow (46 off 30) and Rilee Rossouw (43 off 25) steadily ate away at their score.
The Super Kings' outing was summed up by Sam Curran's wayward drive spinning away from Shivam Dube at the boundary for a four late on, and Punjab wrapped up their most comfortable win of the season with 13 balls to spare.
Data Debrief: Kings maintain Chennai hoodoo
The Kings' upturn may have come a little too late to give them a genuine shot at the play-offs, but for Chennai, it was a case of more frustration against their bogey team.
Punjab have now won their last five matches against the Super Kings, who have seen their title defence stall with a run of three defeats in four outings.
Marsh named captain in Australia's T20 World Cup squad as Smith and Fraser-McGurk miss out
Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia at next month's T20 World Cup, but Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk have been left out of the 15-man squad.
Marsh, who has shared the duties on an interim basis since Aaron Finch's retirement, was named the Baggy Greens' permanent T20 skipper on Wednesday.
Test captain Pat Cummins, fast bowler Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have also been named in the squad, which features 11 of the players that were part of the team that won this tournament in 2021.
However, there is no place for former skipper Smith following a difficult spell of form, while Fraser-McGurk is also absent despite his impressive form in the Indian Premier League.
"This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents," selection chief George Bailey said.
"Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.
"Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover.
"Ultimately, the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign."
"It's been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup," Marsh added.
"We have had some strong success in recent times, and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament."
Australia will begin their tournament against Oman on June 5, while they will also play England, Scotland and Namibia in Group B.
Australia's provisional squad:
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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