England ready to play aggressive cricket in World T20: Ben Stokes

Mumbai,9 March। England all-rounder Ben Stokes on Wednesday said the team is a balanced one and will continue to play their aggressive brand of cricket at the World Twenty20 tournament.

The 27-day tournament got underway in Nagpur on March 8 and will be played at eight venues across India with Eden Gardens in Kolkata scheduled to host the final on April 3.

India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia are clubbed in Super 10 Group 2 while South Africa, England, the West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Super 10 Group 1.

"England have beaten Pakistan 3-0 in UAE recently and we have played aggressively there. We have expressed ourselves there. And when that has worked why not hold on to it," Stokes said at a press conference here.

Keeping in mind the conditions in India which favour slower bowlers and spinners, the 24-year-old said the England spin duo of Adil Rashid and the experienced Moeen Ali have the ability to do well on these pitches.

"Considering the conditions in India, we have good and experienced spinners in Rashid and Ali. They are not part timers. They are good but we have to see how the conditions and pitch behaves," the left-handed batsman said.

Speaking on his team's chances in the competition, the hard-hitting batsman said, "We have a good chance this time around. We have good batting line-up in Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and others. We have skills everywhere and have variety of option in both batting and bowling."

England will miss experienced pacer Steven Finn due to injury. His replacement Liam Plunkett believes that there is no added pressure on him as he will bank on pace and yorkers to come out successful.

"I will aim to bowl quick and well. There is no pressure on me at coming into the competition in place of Finn. I have worked on the yorkers and I hope besides bowling straight, bowling yorkers and slower balls will be the key here," Plunkett said.

Agency