“Don’t worry about if they…”: Nasser Hussain discloses his England Playing 11 for T20 World Cup 2022 match vs Afghanistan

England Playing 11 for T20 World Cup 2022: The former English captain has picked seven first-choice batters for their tournament openers.

England beat Pakistan 4-3 in the first-ever seven-match T20I series between ICC (International Cricket Council) Full Member Nations to register a solid performance before reaching Australia for ICC T20 World Cup 2022.

Although slated to play three T20Is against hosts and defending champions Australia before the world event, England would relish the prospect of traveling down under with a series victory under their belt even if it has come in completely different conditions.

Scheduled to face Pakistan again in a warm-up match between the Australia series and World Cup, England effectively have four chances to both fine-tune their skills and try out currently injured players namely captain Jos Buttler (calf injury), batter Liam Livingstone (ankle) and fast bowler Chris Jordan (finger).

Nasser Hussain discloses his England Playing 11 for T20 World Cup 2022 match vs Afghanistan

Discussing England’s series victory in Pakistan on their first tour to the country in 17 years, former England captain Nasser Hussain also threw light on what he thinks would be the best combination for their World Cup opener against Afghanistan in Perth on October 23.

“I’ve picked all my batters, really. Because some of them bowl [likes of Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone]. So, I’ve decided to pick all seven batting options. If you’re picking those seven batters, then you’ve got to pick your best four bowlers. Don’t worry about if they bat or not,” Hussain told Sky Sports Cricket.

Hussain, who has picked Alex Hales ahead of Phil Salt as Buttler’s opening partner, hasn’t made any other surprising change in the batting department. However, it is in the fast-bowling department where Hussain has selected Jordan, Mark Wood and Reece Topley ahead of Sam Curran, David Willey and Chris Woakes.

With England picking as many as six fast-bowling contenders in their 15-member World Cup squad, expect head coach Matthew Mott and Buttler to be facing a selection conundrum for finalizing the Top three out of them.

Nasser Hussain’s Playing XI for ICC T20 World Cup 2022 – 1) Jos Buttler (c & wk) 2) Alex Hales 3) Dawid Malan 4) Ben Stokes 5) Harry Brook 6) Moeen Ali 7) Liam Livingstone 8) Chris Jordan 9) Mark Wood 10) Adil Rashid 11) Reece Topley