Skipper Jos Buttler says the emphatic way England crushed India to reach Sunday's Twenty20 World Cup final "doesn't count for anything" as they bid to become champions in both white-ball formats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India were humbled by 10 wickets in the semi-finals with Buttler's composed 80 and Alex Hales's blistering 86 setting up a blockbuster showdown with Babar Azam's Pakistan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The England opener said Saturday there was "a huge amount of excitement" for the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, although it could be affected by rain. A reserve day has been set aside on Monday, but the forecast is equally gloomy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England continue to have injury worries over Dawid Malan and fast bowler Mark Wood, who both missed Thursday's semi-final. Buttler said they were "both improving".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Obviously there's not many days since the semi-final, but we are giving them every chance," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Phil Salt and Chris Jordan are again the likely replacements should they not recover.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite the weather and injury concerns, Buttler was in buoyant mood in his pre-match press conference.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Any time you get a chance to play in a World Cup final is a huge honour. We're really excited as a group, there's a nice feel around the team," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The previous performance (against India) gives us a lot of confidence, but it doesn't count for anything.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Tomorrow we start a fresh game against a really tough opposition and any time you are fighting for a trophy you know it isn't going to come easy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"So we will focus on them a little bit and on us a lot and what we need to do to prepare well today to turn up tomorrow and do the best we can."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England head into the game as the current one-day world champions after their 2019 triumph at home against New Zealand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Buttler was on the winning team, as were Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Wood, all stalwarts of the side now in the T20 World Cup final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He said the experience of winning a world title would help them on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Yes, I think any experiences you can draw on, good or bad, you will have learned from those and can reflect on those when you are in a situation of adversity or chaos," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Those are things that can happen in a World Cup final so the more experience and being able to understand those feelings and how to react to them, I definitely see that as a benefit."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- Fantastic team -
\r\nWhile England's batting runs deep, how they fare could come down to the top order fending off the threat posed by Pakistan pace spearheads Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan bouncing back after losing their opening World Cup matches to India and Zimbabwe was largely down to the starts given by their new-ball attack.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They have the second-best economy rate at the tournament in the six-over powerplay, a factor Buttler is aware of.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"They have a fantastic team who have a very long history of producing excellent fast bowlers, and I see the team we are up against as no different," said Buttler.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I'm sure by the end of their careers some of the players we are playing against will go down as some of the best Pakistan have produced.<\/p>\r\n\r\n