It's odd that as England and West Indies take the field on Saturday for their first game of the T20 World Cup, neither of Carlos Brathwaite or Ben Stokes, the protagonist and anti-protagonist of the dramatic final over of the last edition of the tournament, will be present. Instead, the two teams that are favoured to make it out of the group, will look to gain an early advantage in a tough pool of teams.
With Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka lurking around, neither team will want to start the tournament with a loss and it could pave way for an interesting contest. The two sides packed with big hitters will be encouraged to see a fresh pitch in Dubai and the team that bowls better on the day could decide the winner.
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Team News & Probable XI
England have a huge call to make with the No.1 ranked T20I batter Dawid Malan. While the southpaw has an impressive record, the numbers have dwindled of late and his inability to start quick could deter England's approach with the bat in general. They have the enticing all-round option of Moeen Ali instead with him nailing the top-order role for Chennai Super Kings an added bonus. Liam Livingstone is likely to continue in the finisher slot. Eoin Morgan's form in the middle-order is another of England's concerns, but they are unlikely to make any shocking calls in that regard, at least at this stage of the tournament.
England likely XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
West Indies will likely start with Chris Gayle despite his indifferent form. He will bat at No.3 behind the openers and will likely be followed by a slew of power hitters. The only issue West Indies have is where their batting line-up ends and where the tail-enders, or the bowlers, begin. With the kind of all-round talent at their disposal, expect Windies to go all guns blazing from the top. They are likely to go batting heavy with Roston Chase and Kieron Pollard sharing four overs between them. If Russell isn't fully fit to bowl full tilt (we did see him bowl in the warm ups) yet, West Indies might ponder sitting Gayle out for an extra bowler.
West Indies likely XI: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy
The Talks Around The Teams
While West Indies have their big superstars back in the mix, they haven't quite had results going their way with eight wins and six losses in T20I matches this year. They also succumbed to losses Pakistan and Afghanistan in the warm up matches leading up to the tournament.
England, on the other hand, are one of the teams to beat in the T20 World Cup and have been excellent with their preparations. Despite the loss against India in the warm-up game, England have the pedigree and team to make it out of the group, if not go the distance.
Players To Watch Out
Jonny Bairstow: England made a huge decision to push Jonny Bairstow into the middle-order to slot Jos Buttler at the top and it couldn't have worked better for them. Bairstow's impressive skillset against spin has stood the team in great stead and his middle overs acceleration could be crucial to their chances this T20 World Cup.
Kieron Pollard: West Indies' skipper will have the massive task of gelling together this unit of T20 mercenaries who rarely play together as a unit. So far, the pieces are still falling into place, but if Pollard can get them to work on sync, West Indies could easily be the most formidable team in the tournament.
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