T20 World Cup 2022: England in Group A with two arch-enemies - Australia and New Zealand

As the tournament is staged in groups, the first group is formed from England, New Zealand, Australia, and Afghanistan, whereas the second group has India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and South Africa. Of the two groups, the first group appears to be highly competitive, consisting of the three big teams, and thus, will be a tough fight among them. While defending champions Australia will start as the favourites to defend the title in their backyard, New Zealand will be looking to avenge the last World Cup final defeat. 

New England: looking to find a rhythm

On the other hand, England is a team that has undergone a massive transformation since the last World Cup. The team is now under the reins of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott after the retirement of former skipper Eoin Morgan and has been seen struggling in recent T20I tournaments played. Jos Buttler is still figuring out challenges and solutions as a skipper, which affects his performance as a batter. Retirement and injuries among players will make it challenging for England to compete in the upcoming World Cup with top-class teams.

The English team has played 130-plus Twenty20 International matches with a winning percentage of more than 60%. They are most successful against Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and South Africa, whereas they are tied with India (47.36 per cent wins) and Australia (47.36 per cent wins). Considering their previous World Cup clashes with the teams in the group, they have dominated the proceedings against Afghanistan and Australia. But since the match would be in Australia, they will find an upper hand to give a tough fight to England this time. New Zealand has collided with England 6 times, and each team has won 3 times. And New Zealand will be eager to avenge last year's knockout stage match, adding further to their rivalry. 

Players England will be dependent on for a successful tournament

With such intense competition awaiting England, the team will be highly dependent on experienced players like Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer. While Jofra Archer is recovering from elbow injury surgery, their other key pacer, Mark Wood, has yet to undergo surgery and recovery before the World Cup. Thus, the emerging new talents in the form of Harry Brook, Phil Salt, Reece Topley and Richard Gleeson will also be grabbing highlights on how they contribute to the team if needed in the absence of the key players. 

England will have to solve their current issues with senior players' form and injuries quickly because the two arch-enemies in their group of ICC T20 World Cup will be in full swing. For one, it's a home condition; for others, it's revenge. 

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