Michael Vaughan is not immune to making the odd prediction that prompts raised eyebrows, and the former England captain has put the cat amongst the pigeons by backing Harry Brook’s men to get past India in the ICC T20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday.
The logic put forth by the cricketer-turned-commentator is also one that not everyone will agree with: England have a superior spin arsenal, and that India’s lead spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has gone for runs in the last few games.
“England have a better spin attack than India,” Vaughan claimed on the Test Match Special podcast. “[Varun] Chakaravarthy has been got at. (Liam) Dawson, (Adil) Rashid and Will Jacks have been the best trio in the tournament in terms of spin.”
England won all three of their Super Eights fixtures – against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand – not without problems, and have stuttered at various other stages of the competition. They lost to the West Indies and were given scares by Associate teams Nepal and England. But more often than not, they have found someone to get the job done and take the side to victory.
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“They seem to have found a way of winning,” Vaughan said. “The win against New Zealand, even though a dead rubber, to get over the line was a great effort.”
Apart from the spin trio, Vaughan expects the pace attack of Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Jamie Overton to get the job done.
“I just have a funny feeling England can get the job done in ,” he said. “England’s fielding has been absolutely exceptional. They look really alert. England’s running between the wickets has been exceptional. The small- percentage things you can control, England seem to be doing very well.”
One area of concern for England is the form of opener and former white-ball captain Jos Buttler, who has been dismissed for single-figure scores in his last five games and is struggling at the crease. Vaughan advised him to back his instinct without thinking too much about technique.
“You always look at your technique when you are not feeling as good as you have done,” the 2005 Ashes-winning captain said. “Jos is a hand-eye player. Just stare right in the middle of the ball and react to the deliveries.
“The shots he hasn’t been playing are the ramp shots. I think this pitch (at the Wankhede Stadium) will suit that shot and to play that shot you have to stare at the ball right onto the bat. When he is playing well he gets those shots out early.”
