LONDON: Michael Vaughan rates England as favourites for this year’s T20 World Cup with the former captain saying Eoin Morgan’s side have absolutely everything covered.

Despite missing a number of key players, England beat Pakistan by 45 runs in the second Twenty20 international at Headingley on Sunday to level the three-match series at 1-1.

Morgan’s side will attempt to become double world champions in October when the United Arab Emirates and Oman host the T20 World Cup.

England won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019 and will hope to enjoy more success in this year’s T20 competition, which was postponed 12 months ago due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

In the Caribbean in 2010, England won the T20 World Cup, and six years later they reached the final before losing to West Indies.

Speaking after the victory over Pakistan in Leeds, Vaughan said: “England have put themselves in a great position [to win the T20 World Cup] because they’ve got absolutely everything covered.”

The emergence of Liam Livingstone can only be a positive for England ahead of the T20 World Cup. The Lancashire star smashed a 42-ball hundred in the first T20 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, and 38 from 23 balls on Sunday.

“He’s becoming a class act,” Vaughan said of Livingstone, who incredibly hit two sixes out of Headingley. “The hundred he got on Friday will have given him a huge amount of confidence. He’s one we’re going to see a lot of over the next few years.”

Morgan, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were among those missing for England on Sunday and veteran Test seamer James Anderson said the selection dilemmas are a great headache to have.

“The best teams have the strongest squad,” England record wicket-taker Ande­rson told the BBC. “If you’re going to a World Cup, you need 15 or 16 players who can perform on any given day. It’s a great headache to have.”

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2021