JIMMY ANDERSON: Why England are the ONLY crew that may cease India successful the T20 World Cup – and the secrets and techniques to successful this match that I discovered in 2010

I am pretty sure India will win the Twenty20 World Cup. It would take something really special for another team to knock them out on home soil.

Such is their strength in depth that India could pool their resources over two squads and still have a chance of lifting the trophy. And I reckon there is only one team that can stop them: England.

Australia are always highly competitive, but they’re missing something at the minute. South Africa? Probably not. Pakistan? No. New Zealand are impressive and have a habit of always being there or thereabouts at major tournaments. But on paper, England are the only ones I can see preventing India becoming world champions for a third time in this format.

That might be a surprise to people given England’s recent results. But in limited-overs cricket, it was the 50-over stuff that had been a struggle up until the confidence boost of a series win in Sri Lanka, while the T20 side has felt more settled.

Crucially, there are also enough players in that squad who’ve got experience of being in successful teams, dominating competitions with individual performances or winning major silverware like World Cups and the IPL. There’s enough experience and quality to give it a good challenge.

One thing that will be crucial for their chances, I believe, is consistency of selection, something I learned as part of the 2010 T20 World Cup-winning squad. Having a team that rarely changed throughout the whole tournament was a key element to our success.

Andy Flower and Paul Collingwood, as coach and captain, came up with a formula based on conditions and our available personnel, stuck to it, and it worked most of the time. In tournament cricket, you want players to be clear on their roles. You also need a clean bill of health, of course.

Once the tournament starts, you don’t want to be playing around with things, tinkering too much, so you need clarity before the first ball is bowled.

If you go in unsure of your best attack, then you’re already struggling, so you’ve got to find your best bowlers for what you want to do and then commit to that from the opening group game – in England’s case, against Nepal on Sunday.

This was a policy I actually suffered from in 2010, when it was decided that they didn’t want what I could offer. Or at least they didn’t feel like that was as great as what Ryan Sidebottom could offer, particularly late in the innings, or Stuart Broad bowling around the wicket to right-handers.

I was bowling really well at the time, so I was disappointed, but as the years have gone by I have come to understand what they were trying to do and how it worked so well for us in the Caribbean.

All the way through that team, people played well, knitting together by committing to their roles.

Things came together at the last minute because of the inclusions of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter but allowing them to play with freedom worked. I also felt that having a world-class player like Kevin Pietersen coming in after them, followed by Collingwood, allowed them to be adventurous.

Pietersen was exceptional in that tournament and England will need one of their match winners like Jos Buttler and Phil Salt – who have experience of performing under pressure – to stand up and fire this time.

Then there is Harry Brook. His recent hundred in the third ODI in Sri Lanka was the most impressive, but his innings in the second match of that series represented the turning point of his winter for me.

Why? Because he took his time. In the third match in Colombo – just as in Sunday’s T20, when he hit an explosive 12-ball 36 – he had licence to go hell for leather, the scoreboard reading 166 for three, with Joe Root 65 not out and Buttler in next. But in that second ODI, he didn’t try to play at that same tempo, instead reining it in and batting for the team’s requirements.

It almost feels like he’s reaped the rewards of getting into rhythm since, showing why everyone in the English game thinks he’s a genius talent. Some of his stroke play has been remarkable.

He got caught up in it all in the Ashes, playing shots he wished he hadn’t, when he needed to play the situation more, and so in his current form, T20 will suit him because less time dictates instant aggression.

Spin dominated on the tour of Sri Lanka, but if you take evidence from the IPL, it’s not going to be so one-dimensional, because seamers do a job in that competition.

Obviously, you need to play spin in the right way when batting, and it might be used at different stages of the innings depending on the venue’s conditions, but I don’t think you should put all your eggs in the spin basket.

And when it comes to England’s bowling attack, there is still a need for good quick bowlers and not just those blessed with extreme pace. Last year when England toured India, it was balls-out pace and the ball flew everywhere.

England’s hands are tied to some extent this year because Mark Wood is injured. But learning from the experience of losing 4-1 to India in 2025, Jofra Archer is an absolute must-pick as someone who is not only quick but skilful too, with a good IPL record. He’s nailed on for that new ball role, and after 12-18 months of exceptional performances, Sam Curran deserves a chance at the other end.

Curran can be a really useful bowler in Indian conditions, and it felt like a backward step from the selection point of view to go all guns blazing 12 months ago, because you actually need control at times.

Especially in India, at the start of an innings, you can get smashed everywhere with pace on the ball. Equally, if you get bogged down when batting, the game can run away from you, so you have to begin well.

England’s progress from the group stage should be straightforward enough with three associate nations providing the opposition, but in T20 cricket, as we’ve seen before, if you take your foot off the gas, you can come unstuck.

Had it not rained at the last World Cup, Scotland could have delivered England a shock defeat.

Teams around the world are much better now than they used to be, there are lots of good players around and so it’s about building momentum one game at a time, rather than thinking about the second stage.

Winning’s also a nice habit to develop, and England have players who can lean on their experience in pressure situations in big tournaments — if they reach the latter stages this time.