The Men’s T20 World Cup Preview

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You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Hello, this is Henry Moran. Welcome to the Test Match special podcast and welcome to India. It is almost time for the start of the Men's T20 World Cup. All gets underway on Saturday with a triple header no less. This talk being held across India and Sri Lanka. 20 teams, four groups, a super Eights phase, all building towards a final in either Ahmedabad or Colombo. More on that later on. It promises to be a quick ICC tournament, an exciting 1. These T20 World Cups do rattle along and there are so many talking points to get stuck into, not least the situation between Pakistan and India and that match on February 15th. Will it happen? Will it not? We will find out in due course. What about England's chances as well? Certainly more optimism than was felt as England departed Australian shores at the end of the Men's Ashes series here in Mumbai. Well the car horns are blaring though Ankady Stadium not too far away in my jet lag state walking down Marine Drive at 5:25 a couple of mornings ago they were midway through preparation for the light show for the opening ceremony on Saturday when India take on the United States. It is going to be a pretty spectacular occasion if previous events are anything to go by. Here alongside me is the BBC's Matt Henry as well. We'll be heading to Colombo shortly, but Matt, here in India you can just feel the excitement building tournament like this, T20 cricket in India, it is all coming together quite beautifully for what should be a really special few weeks.

Yeah, definitely. There's a lot of talk and a lot of controversy and uncertainty, as you've mentioned, around that India, Pakistan fixture in particular coming into this World Cup. But what we cannot forget and will not forget and will become very apparent throughout this tournament, that cricket, following cricket, watching cricket in India is always one of the biggest threats, thrills in this sport. It is like nowhere else. It is so big, it is so loud, it is so passionate. We will get swept up by it at times and there will be issues and controversies that we've mentioned, but the cricket T20 cricket will be thrilling. And I think one of the things, we were both there in 2024 in the Caribbean for that last T20 World cup, which doesn't feel very long ago at all. And I do have a bit of an issue with that. Maybe we'll get to it that these World Cups come around so often, but I thought one of the real excitement of that tournament in 2024 was the expansion to 20 teams and that we saw different matchups, different teams playing. And this time we get England, Nepal. On Saturday, we get to see Italy. I saw Andrea Pirlo wishing the Italy team good luck, which is a sentence I never thought I'd be saying. So just all these different things that we're going to get will all make part of what should be a really exciting tournament.

Penny for his thoughts, I promise that is. Well, no, I don't. It might not be. It won't be the last pasta part I make during the competition because there are so many options to go with. But, yeah, it's the same format as 2024 with these 20 sides. I'll just briefly go through a quick 30 seconds of how it's all going to work. So what we have is from the off, in the initial group stage, each side will play four games. The top two across the four groups will progress to the Super 8s. The Super 8s will take place again across India and Sri Lanka, two groups of four, and then the top two teams in each group progressing to the semifinals and then potentially a final in either Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on whether Pakistan will be featuring. So that's how it's all going to work. All 12 Test playing nations have qualified. Zimbabwe guaranteeing their place, having come through the qualifying stage. We've got a couple of some of the less known sides as well. USA have become a little more familiar, but Canada and then the Tournament debutant Italy as well have come into the competition for the first time. And then of course Scotland, late replacements for Bangladesh as one of the stories coming into the competition. So, so much to get stuck into. Matt and I do love these different teams and sides that we're going to see in action because it just brings a different story.

Yeah, definitely. I think there's a little period in these tournaments where you got a little bit familiar. I don't want to say sick because you never say sick of seeing the same teams play over and over again because we, we have to remember that this is a World cup and that's what happens. But just to see the freshness of it and to see the, the different teams playing brings excitement to this early stage. And then when you get into the business end, I mean, who knows? I say that the, the bigger test play nations might, might come through, but who knows because USA got through to the Super Eights last time, didn't they? And they played England in that second stage last time. So who knows what will happen and who will get through. There probably will be or hopefully will be a few shocks here and there early on. But yeah, you've sort of got this early stage to get really excited, see different players, see different teams and then it'll get down to the real business end later on.

England's group, Group C sees England, Italy, Nepal, Scotland, Scotland and West Indies. And there's a rather tantalizing prospect of England against West Indies at Eden Gardens. Ten years on from Carlos Brathwaite's fabulous innings and that amazing final over there. So again, another little string to follow throughout this tournament. India are the tournament favorites. We're going to see them in action here in Mumbai in their competition open against the usa. Also in the group, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan as well. So I think we're pretty confident that India do go into this competition as red hot favourites.

Yeah, definitely. And given what we say about T20 being a bit of a lottery sometimes, it's actually remarkable how far ahead India are in the favourites. We've collated our pundit predictions for the tournament, which is a piece you'll be able to read on the BBC sport website, an app and eight of the nine in there I think, and the only one being me trying to be a little bit different to bring some interest to the piece, have predicted India to win this tournament. So that probably tells you quite a lot. I went for Australia partly because I think before the 2350 over World cup here, I think Australia lost their two series before that one of their key players was injured in Travers didn't play the start of the tournament and then they turned around to go on and win it. So I just thought, oh, maybe history's repeating itself because Australia got smashed by Pakistan in their series warmup last week and they lost to India at home before that. So I'm more in jest than anything. Really serious prediction have gone for Australia, but yeah, I think India. Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order. Jasper Bumra, Varun Chakravarti, Kuldeep Yadav, Hadik Panja. It's a new team. It's not the Virat Kohlis and the Roit Sharmas of the 2024 tournament. But it's a pretty fearsome team and.

They know the conditions. I think the big question mark is how will they cope with the pressure and expectation as we saw in that final in 2023. What about England then? Because there was all of the sense at the end of the Ashes series that people were wearied in so many ways, but actually even come into this tournament, if you take away that context, in pretty good form in T20 cricket. They've won 10 of their last 11. They were impressive in Sri Lanka and it just feels a little bit fresher, all of this, even though we've got quite a lot of the same players.

Yeah, definitely. And a key point of that win in Sri Lanka as well is Sri Lanka should England get through the first stage and we won't take anything for granted. Sri Lanka is where England will play their Super 8 games. So not only did they win in Sri Lanka, they won in conditions where their Super 8 match, which could be against matches against the like of Sri Lanka again, New Zealand, Pakistan. England have just come from Sri Lanka and won 30 there and then they'll go back there and play in that Super 8 stage, the point where we think the big teams will come to the fore. So that is a big advantage for them as well. They'll be playing on those same pictures that they've just won 30 and we saw one game they won on a road in that second game to clinch the series. And then on a slow Turner they went and won again as well with Jacob Bethel taking wickets at the end. So that is a big plus for England. They have a good chance. Obviously Josh Butler and Phil Salt end at the top of the order are a fearsome, possibly the most fearsome opening partnership in this tournament complement each other really well. We saw England scoring 300 against South Africa, who South Africa are tipped to one of the favorites for this tournament as well behind India. So if England can score 300 against them, then they must have a chance, as they did last year in England at Old Trafford, wasn't it? I think that one. So, yeah, they have got a big chance. But the sort of uncertainty around. Or not uncertainty. But the controversy around Harry brooke and Brendan McCollum's place is all still lingering there in the background. And that is why it makes such an intriguing prospect. There was really no time for England to, as much as people might have called for it on social media, for a coach and everyone to go after the Ashes. There wasn't any time because of how quickly this tournament was always going to come. There was a 28 days, I think it was between the end of the Ashes and today. There wasn't any time to change the course. But after this, you've got three months before England play again. So given what has come before England, they just can't perform badly again because that's gonna linger and just have three months to sort of play out. And then there would be time to make a change. But in saying that England should. Should do quite well. But we've said that once before this winter. So who knows?

Indeed. And that's the uncertainty of T20 cricket as well. Because let's not forget there was massive expectation ahead of the 2024 edition. And they were lucky against Scotland in Barbados where the rain rather saved them. They were soundly beaten by Australia in their tournament opener. And then there was drama in Antigua, seeing if the clouds would clear and they might ensure qualification there.

Yeah.

Beaten semi finalists, but didn't tell the. Tell the whole story there. Extraordinary sort of press conference of sorts at the Wangadi Stadium featuring a group of captains, sort of four and then five. Two days out from the start of the tournament, in the swankiest press conference room I have ever seen, it was absolutely packed full of journalists and each journalist had their own individual microphone that they could turn on in front of them. And inevitably it was like the early days of the pandemic, where it was a lot of. You're on mute as people forgot to turn on their microphones. But I asked Harry Brook the question, you know, where do England sit in terms of tournament favourites and expectations? And for a man that is quite so ambitious when it comes to shot playing out in the middle, he was playing with an incredibly straight bat and just said, look, we're taking each day as it comes, each game as it comes. Staying in my lane, that sort of thing. That England are going to be a little bit bruised by everything that has happened over the last two months. What's going to be interesting is to see if this format will free them up or whether the pressure of that spotlight turning on them once again after a reasonably low key series in Sri Lanka is going to see them wilt under that pressure.

Yeah. And what would probably be most interesting is how they would respond to something going wrong because given what's happened in the winter when it sort of. When it went wrong in Perth and didn't get much better despite a two day shootout in, in Melbourne, it's how would they respond to something going wrong again? Would, would it all just really turn south and then we, we'd really have a problem on our hands with this, the whole England setup again, if they can get off to a good start, if they can build through the tournament, they again, not taking things for granted, but you start against a team like Nepal and you've got to think your favourites there. So they should have a nice start. They have a tricky history at the Wankedi recently. This is the stadium where South Africa smashed them in the 202350 over tournament. And that was one of the darkest days for the whole Matthew Mott and Joss Butler era.

That was when Joss Butler said at the toss, he won the toss, elected to field first, then afterwards, having been out in the middle in the heat of the day, said he didn't really realised quite how hot it was, which was a surprising way of looking at things.

Yeah. And South Africa scored 400 and each of England's fielders just seemed to take a different spell of going off the field with some sort of illness. It was a horrible, horrible day. And when that sort of era of really elite white ball cricket of England started to really collapse on itself. So they have tricky memories of the Wankadi in recent history. They got smashed by India in a T20 in a bilateral series last year as well. But you think despite all that, that the sort of conditions here, it's a good high scoring ground, should suit them in a game against Nepal. So yeah, get off to a good start, ease their way into the tournament. They'll have a. As you said, you instinctively think that a game against Bangladesh's Spinners could have been trickier than against Scotland. But then as you said, Henry, Scotland caused them a real scare in Barbados last year. So you, you should definitely not take anything for granted there. As an England supporter, Scotland will be keen to prove that they should have qualified initially and that they Messed up a little in not doing so and then improved their worth here and they've managed to get their kit sorted and everything, things like that, at very short notes, haven't they, Scotland? So I know they're pleased with that. It's a very nice kit, possibly the best of all of them. But yeah, they've done well and Scotland will be here and willing to prove a point. But yeah, if England can get through this early stage, build some momentum, keep the sort of issues on the, on the back burner, which is. Keep them hidden away for a while, which has been such a problem for them this winter, if they can do that, then, yes, they have a chance. If they have a little stumble, then I'll be interested to see where it goes and whether they can keep all that away from the cricket and away from the action in the middle or whether it all just gets a bit too much again and it gets on a slippery slope and we end up where we were back in Australia.

Canada's kit is elite, let me just tell you. Scotland's is good. Canada's is absolutely.

Netherlands is good.

The Netherlands is always good. Of course it is. And it's a tournament that is going to be bright and colourful in every single sense. And the rumors swirling around in terms of opening ceremony, closing ceremony, I mean, we're going to see the great and the good from the world of music and showbiz as well. So can't wait for it all to get underway. And it starts on Saturday. Three matches taking place. We've got West Indies against Scotland and Kolkata. That's a 9:30 in the morning start. India against USA here in Mumbai is a 1:30 UK time start. England, by the way, get underway 9:30 in the morning on February 8th. So that's on Sunday. So a clutch of triple headers right through the opening face of the tournament. 55 matches, every single ball will be brought to you by Test Match special highlights on the BBC Sport website and app as well. But the actual competition opener gets underway 5:30 in the morning over in Colombo. Pakistan against the Netherlands. And it is over in Sri Lanka where we can find Daniel Norcross.

Thank you, Henry. Yes, we are here in beautiful Sri Lanka at what is supposed to be the very best time of year. If you go on to Google and AI will tell you that February is the best time, it's the coolest. It's around about 85 degrees and it is also the driest. But when we arrived yesterday, it was lashing down with rain. I'm joined by Artif Nawaz, our World cup winner, Alex Hartley. Really looking forward to this side of the tournament, but please not. We don't want the rain that we had in October.

I can tell you Dan, you've been unlucky. I've been here a week now and it's barely rained and if it has rained it's been for like 20, 20, 30 minutes. There have been a few warm up games that have been abandoned but if they were full matches they would definitely have played. So I think yesterday you just got here on a very bad day. Having said that, it's meant to rain this afternoon as well. So who actually knows?

Well, let's get it out of the way before the tournament opener tomorrow. I can't believe it's happening so quickly and it's a very different kind of tournament you're going to find here in Sri Lanka. In India of course you've got these postage stamp grounds, you've got some very flat wickets, we've seen loads of runs being scored. But in the recent one day series between England and Sri Lanka we saw that the pitches here can deteriorate quite quickly. There's a lot of games that go to be played, both the first phase and then in the Super Eights and spin will come into it and there's a lot of sides out here that will be rather pleased about that. Most importantly Pakistan because we're out in Sri Lanka. As part of the ICC's agreement that Pakistan and India would only play each other in neutral venues, this could play into Pakistan's hands. Except that Artif Nawaz, the big story at the moment is the game between Pakistan and India. It is in jeopardy. It may well not take place.

Yes, that's right. Just over a week ago the Pakistan government announced on social media that the Pakistani players would participate in the T20 World Cup. That was the big concern at the time that they might not play altogether, but the caveat that they would not take the field. The Pakistani players will not take the field on 15 February against India, which, well, obviously is the most lucrative and some would say exciting game of the tournament of maybe world sport. So it's created a bit of commotion around the build up to this tournament. A lot of uncertainty about how things are going to go in terms of net run rates and qualification and what have you. But yeah, it's, it's an ongoing situation because this thing's changing all the time. But as it stands at time of recording Pakistan's front line, at the moment the Prime Minister's commented on this as well. Shahbaz Sharifi said that the Pakistan team will not be taking the field against India. So as it stands, that match is not going to happen.

Just very briefly, try to explain for the listener why this, this fixture is in such peril.

So there's, there's two sort of threads that you have to follow if you're trying to understand Pakistan's perspective. The first and the most immediate thread is Bangladesh. So Bangladesh ended up being removed from this World cup owing to their stance of not wanting to play their games in India. They requested to play their games in Sri Lanka on security grounds. That came after Mustafizer was ejected from the IPL by his IPL franchise. You know, the details are all very murky, but the stance that the Bangladesh government and the BCB took was that they did not feel safe in India and they wanted to play their games in Sri Lanka.

The ICC said if Mustafitsa didn't feel safe, then how would the whole Bangladesh team feel safe?

Correct.

And not just the team, but also their supporters and their journalists and so on and so forth. The ICC did their own, you know, sort of security evaluation and determined that there was no threat. And Bangladesh, that wasn't acceptable to them. So they did, they sort of stood by their guns and said, well then we can't play. And hence Scotland entered the fray. Now there was a vote taken by the ICC before this decision came about and in that vote, the only vote in favor of Bangladesh was from Pakistan. So they were, you know, supporting the notion that Bangladesh should be allowed to play their games outside of India in Sri Lanka. And they pointed out to the fact, they point out the fact that this has been done before with them and with India. So teams have, there is a precedent for this. But the ICC didn't entertain that, you know, and the Bangladesh fault, they didn't entertain it seriously enough. Pakistan felt that Bangladesh weren't entertained seriously enough and perhaps looked at their own self preservation in the future and thought, well, currently we have an agreement with the ICC where we don't have to go to India to play any matches, but in the future that could change. So this is an opportunity to take a stand, as it were, or to make a sort of formal protest. And the biggest leverage that Pakistan has is participation in an India Pakistan fixture, the most lucrative fixture, by sort of holding that ransom, as it were, they make their case known, their dissatisfaction with the status quo known.

Do you know what the moment I didn't take the Bangladesh stuff as seriously as I did was when they were like the offered the solution themselves. So they were like, we don't want to play in India, which I totally, totally understand. Why don't we swap with Ireland? No, you don't offer that solution. That's not the decision for you to make. So I don't know if that then made things a little bit worse for them. And where they're sat, it's like, okay, well we'll just swap. It's like, no, that team's been preparing to play in Sri Lanka. You don't offer the solution. You say you don't want to play in India, which I totally understand and respect. You let the ICC make the decision. So it was all just very messy.

It is messy, but because it's an ongoing situation, we don't really know what's going to happen in what is what, a week and a half's time or so before that game is supposed to take place on the 15th. That's right, November. So look, monitor the BBC. We will be across that story as it unfolds. But Al, from a player's perspective, it's surely a bit unsettling. I mean Pakistan, if they don't play that game well, instantly forfeit two points, their net run rate will take a horrible hit because it's assumed that you are basically bowled out for naught in 20 overs. I guess on the plus side they've got three teams they would expect to beat. But nonetheless, if you're a player, how do you prepare for a situation like this?

Well, it's not even that situation. It's the fact that they still don't know if they're playing in the tournament. Do you know what I mean? There's been no confirmation. Probably properly just like, okay, we can play in the tournament but we're not going to play that fixture. Well, the IC still, still have the right to be like, well, if you're not playing that fixture, you don't play in the tournament. So it's still all very messy. So as a player, sorry, just to.

Be clear, we're 24 hours away from them taking the field against the as we speak.

Yeah. So it's almost like, okay, that it's presumed that they will play that game tomorrow and they will play it in the tournament. But there's been no real confirmation for these players. So they're out here preparing for a World Cup. Their game against Ireland for their warm up game got cancelled. Yes, they've just played against Australia. So they have had some cricket. But as a, as a player, you're you're in this situation, you're going up, going down to breakfast in the morning and everyone's going, how are you staying? We still don't know what's going on.

It's a tremendous shame really that there's so much uncertainty around it, I mean, even from a Pakistani perspective, because I think had this not happened, we'd be talk. I'd certainly be talking up their chances in this tournament. Coming off the back of A. A 3 nil dismantling of Australia at home. Okay, it wasn't a fully first choice Australian side, but they're not going to have a fully first choice side in this World cup either.

That's the point. It's nearly a first choice Australian side because as we know, there's no Josh Hazelwood, there's no Pat Cummins. You know, it was an incredibly impressive performance because they didn't just beat Australia 3 nil, they eviscerated some of those games.

It was the first time they won a series against Australia in 2018 and the first time they've whitewashed them in a T20 series altogether. So it was a really, really big performance and it's sort of, they, they've managed to find a really good rhythm as a team and obviously they don't have the kind of run up that India do. Coming into this, India will be overwhelming favorites and we've already heard that discussed. But I would suggest that, you know, if you were looking for outsiders, you wouldn't look too far in terms of Pakistan's chances.

Well, a lot of the talk at recent ICC tournaments has been about how India have been given certain advantages in the Champions Trophy. They played all their games in Dubai. Pakistan have got a really big advantage here, Al, because if they do get out of the field, they will play all their games in Sri Lanka and they've got a team that's kind of set up for that.

Well, by the time they play those teams as well, the pitches, they're very, very flat at the minute. So the training surfaces are really flat as well. Each game is played on a new surface because we go from one stadium to the next. So the ground staff do have time to prepare the next wicket. So they will be flat. But as you go through the tournament, they will deteriorate. So that's where Pakistan spinners will come in. So yeah, I think they might have a bit. They got an advantage for the first time ever.

Well, it feels like it. And that's why, dare I say it, dear listener, they could be a situation in which we're talking about an India Pakistan semi final or an India Pakistan final. It's a little bit scary to even raise that issue right at the moment because we're not even sure if indoor going to pay Pakistan at all. But I think with the likes of Abrar Ahmed in terrific form. You say Saim Ayub is a leading all rounder in T20s at the moment. It's a really strong Pakistan side coming in in really good form playing against three sides. Doesn't matter that they don't play against India, they'll be playing against the likes of Namibia, the Netherlands in the first round. The USA grudge matcheri because what happened to them a couple of years ago but they would fancy their chances of qualifying.

They're a completely different team now as well Latif, aren't they? The way Mike Hessen has changed their mindset and changed the way they play and also if we're being honest, got rid of players that refused to play in the modern era. You know, someone like Mohamed Rizwan was like I play the way I play and I'm going to get 50 or 50. Well, I'm sorry, you lose 90% of the games when Mohamed Rizwan gets 50 because he'll chew up 50, 55 balls. That is the way he plays. That's the way it's been. That's completely changed. He, he's been sacked from the team and they've started winning. It's not just all on him obviously there's been a few other changes. So the mindset of this new coach and these players has completely flipped and they're now finally playing decent T20 cricket.

Are we going to be talking about Baba Azam though? I mean the captain has already said I would love not to have to answer questions about Bob Azam. So we've got Atip Nawaz to answer those questions instead. He is still a bit of an elephant in the room, isn't he?

Well, he is because he's sort of huge, huge star. I mean not since the likes of Shahid Afridi and Shoibhakhtar has been a star of that magnitude in Pakistani cricket. They still chant his name at all the stadiums in Pakistan. You'll get more love and affection from Pakistan fans for a single down to long on than you might get for a six out of the ground if you're another player. There has been a recognition about his strike rate. He went over to play in the big bash for the Sydney Sixers and I think recorded the lowest Strike rate for any batter who'd scored 200 runs in that league's history since its inception. So there was a big sort of spotlight on his strike rate in this three match series against Australia. He sort of struggled to get away in the first couple of matches. Adam Zamper seemed to have his number. But in the third match, crucially, he did score a 36 ball half century, which again isn't going to set the world on fire with the way the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Said are getting on. But at the same time it's an incremental improvement and it's a different role as well. He's playing at number four now. It's the first time in his career he's really settled into that fourth spot. He's got an opportunity to negotiate those spinners in the middle phase of the innings, which we anticipate. Well, certainly on turning surfaces it can be the most challenging. You don't play with the same kind of freedom. Might suit him, but.

Well, this is the thing. So in the power play, strike rate is 150. Out of the power play, it drops down significantly to about 120. So actually the power play suits him. But they've got power here to now in power play that been better and more successful than it.

Absolutely. It's worth pointing out that, you know, Sahib Zaya Ferran, it was the best Pakistani batter of 2025. You got Simon, you there. We've talked about terrific form and Salman Aliaga, the captain himself took it upon himself to play in that number three position. Not a lot of people fancied him initially for that spot, but in the. In one of the games against Sri Lanka, which was rain affected, he scored 46 of 13 balls, which was very impressive, and then again continued to play that very attacking brand of cricket which is sort of played universally now, but hadn't been in Pakistan. So the style of cricket, the balance of their team, it is quite exciting to watch. But unfortunately it all lives under a cloud of 15 February.

It does, but we've been talking there about a side. We don't really know what games are going to be playing even if they are playing in tournament. Let's move to a side that had no idea they were playing in this tournament at all. Does that give them a kind of freedom or. Look, we talked about preparation and England's preparation at the Ashes and how disastrous that felt like it was. Well, there was no preparation of Scotland, dad, for this tournament.

Well, there was no preparation for the Ashes and it was a disaster. There's been no preparation for Scotland. They're the underdogs now, aren't they? Look, they've. They've only just got all 15 here. In the country or in India? In the country. Sorry. So, yeah, it's. It's not been straightforward for them. You know, they had fitness testing last Sunday and they decided that actually we should probably have a net just in case, you know. So there's been so much going on for Scotland that it's almost like, you know, well, we got the 2k time trial, but we're going to scrap that because on Tuesday we might be flying to India, which ended up happening. So, you know, you. You've got some players that were up in the mountains in Scotland just having some time off. You've got some players that have been playing in the Nepal Premier League. So everyone's had to scramble around not only that, to get visas as well. They had a few visa problems getting a couple of the lads over to, to India. So it's been a bit of a mess for Scotland. However it might suit them. You know, they had the heartbreak of losing in the qualifiers. You know, there's also talk on why Jersey aren't here and why Scotland are here. But it went down to world ranking rather than the qualifiers, which is also unfair in itself. But that's another story, isn't it? So, yeah, Scotland are probably thinking we shouldn't be here, Jersey should. But we've got the nod, so let's just go out and enjoy it.

It's a free hit for them, isn't it? And you had Mark Watt on the Nobles podcast. He's going to be one of their key players, isn't he?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. As he's a player that plays one of the few for Scotland that plays franchise cricket. So he's going to be one of those players that everybody looks at, you know, he's been playing consistent cricket throughout the winter. He's just one of the lads has just come back from Nepal. Yeah, he is going to be a key player. Left arm spinner, can whack a few at the end as well. But he's one of the senior players now. And even for somebody like him who was on the podcast going, I have no idea what's going on. You know, I've got no idea what the last week was. But I'm here, I'm in India and it's all a bit of a whirlwind.

I've got my eye on Zainullah Ihsan and if you read the BBC sport website thoroughly, I'm sure you'll find an article about the young man, 19 year old, he was a refugee up until four years ago in, in Scotland. And yeah, he's sort of found himself in this whirlwind situation where he's found himself in the Scotland side and now he's in the squad to play in this World Cup. So I mean what, what a fairy tale story it could be for young Zayn Alison who hadn't played with anything other than a tape ball up until five years ago and now he's going to be playing in the T20 World Cup. How exciting.

Well, and also let's not rule them out because we've talked already here about how there's been a little bit of rain around. I know we're keep our fingers crossed that it'll stay dry but the forecast has been a bit in and out. If India don't play against Pakistan and if there's a game or two that's rained off, that's abandoned, it opens the door, doesn't it for one of the usa, for Scotland and for Ireland to come through in that group. And you know, from absolutely nowhere Scotland could end up in the Super 8 in the second phase, which will be incredible. And they've got some power hitters in there as well, likes of George Mumsey who can go large. Let's talk about the other sides in this group. Ireland. Now you've been keeping a very close eye on Irish cricket. Alex Hartley, what are their chances at the moment? They've not come in in the very best of form, have they?

Well, they've just beat UAE over the UAE in a two match series, then beat them quite convincingly. Played a three match series against Italy in the UAE before that series and lost to Italy. So their last game they were 20 up. The third game they lost to Italy, Italy actually won pretty convincingly as well. And I can only imagine they're a little bit shell shocked by that. But there, there is a real chance that they can do well in this tournament. Let's just say they start well in their first game against Sri Lanka and their game against Australia is rained out. They only have to win one of the next two for a chance of actually qualifying. So it's got, I know we're in Sri Lanka, but it's got down to the stage of if one's rained out it helps another team or vice versa. So look, there's a lot of talk around the Irish team that you have to Win. You have to win two to qualify because Australia, let's just say they win all their games, then it becomes a little bit of a fight between the rest of them.

Give us a little idea of their squad generally.

They've got quite an all rounded squad for some all rounders. Actually, no, they've got a young lad called Matthew Humphrey who's been bowling in the power play left arm spinner. Really. I, I think he's going to be a really good talent. He's one of those where you look at him and he's going to play for Ireland for a good few years. They've got a young power hitter called Ben Khalitz. I don't know if he'll play. He's sort of swapped in and out with Curtis Camphor when he's been rested. Khalitz has come in but he hits his first ball. He's one of those players that can hit his first ball for six, first ball for four. So they have got some power hitters in there. But you know me, Dan, I love a left arm spinner. So Matthew Humphries, I've really enjoyed watching him bowl over the last couple of weeks and the way that he's able to change his pace and bowl in and out of the power play has been quite impressive. So I think he's going to be.

Key for Ireland and of course they're very experienced, the likes of Paul Sterling there. Curtis Cant was only 26, he's playing his fourth World cup, which is kind of amazing to think of. Let's now take a look at the less fancied sides if you like. Because one of the great things about a team 20 World cup is that we really, it's a festival of cricket. We get to see cricket from countries from around the world. And Zimbabwe, yeah, we see plenty of Zimbabwe, but Oman, what do we really know of Oman? They played in the last T20 World Cup. They showed moments actually out in the West Indies in the last T20 World cup that they could be, they could, they could force a surprise. And we got the USA who did pull off that absolutely epic victory against Pakistan. Is there any chance you might see either of those sides pulling off? What would be a surprise was the.

Zimbabwe Oman game that I'm looking at next Monday on the 9th. And I think that's the one for Oman where they'll look and they'll go, you know what if we, I think what those teams in particular have to do, so Oman and USA for me, they have to bowl first and they have to keep teams down to about 120, 130 and then give themselves the chance to chase it down. I don't think they've got the capability and I might be proved wrong, I hope I am. But I don't think they've got the capability to go out and get 160, 170 on the board because I think they don't really know how to go about it in that manner. But if they're defend or if they're bowling first and they're only chasing 130, I feel like they'll know how to go about it. And that's what we saw in the previous World Cup. Excuse me. But yeah, look, when it comes to teams like that, I think we love an upset, don't we? I would love it if the USA beat Pakistan again. Sorry, Atif. And I would love it if Oman beat Zimbabwe next Monday. I just think it would make great cricket.

And we've not even talked about the Netherlands who pulled up one of the great shocks four years ago when they beat South Africa and in so doing knocked them out and it allowed Pakistan to come through and it looked like they had no chance in that group. They came through, they won their semi final and they famously lost to a in the finals. Same as the, you know, what these teams could do is that they don't necessarily make it all the way through to the next stage and they can provide upsets that have really massive impacts on the tournament.

And I think the warm ups will have surprised a lot of people because Oman did beat Zimbabwe in the warm up game and they chased 188. So just like you're saying, Alex, I mean if you put yourself in a position where you're chasing and you know exactly how to go about putting it together, you can do. And some of the Oman players, I mean I've kept an eye on them because they were in the Asia cup as well earlier last year in that qualifying scenario. They Singh, excellent player at the top, very exciting, hard hitting opening batter. You know, there's some talent there that, that lends itself to the shorter format. And I think because T20 cricket is a great equalizer, you've only really got to do it across 240 balls, right? So we saw that with the USA it was the thrilling game when the USA beat Pakistan and it's a tremendous shame really that they weren't able to capture capitalize on that. I know it's difficult in the USA. There's 7 million sports played out there, but they weren't able to capitalize on that and turn it into a real moment, as Bangladesh did in 99 when they beat Pakistan, which led them to sort of test status and becoming a full fledged cricket country. But for a country like Oman, for example, if they were to pull off a big result in this World cup that could transform their cricketing infrastructure and you go from talking about them as sort of less fancy teams in this World cup to, to like genuine contenders to in two World Cups time. So a win against one of the full member nations of the ICC goes a long way.

Obviously. Atif, the USA are going to be without Aaron Jones. He set the world alight in the last World Cup. He's been suspended for alleged anti corruption breaches.

Yeah, but we're going to, we're going to see Sarav Netrovalka. One of the great stories of the last World Cup. The 34 year old IT engineer.

Yes.

Who, who, who basically beat Pakistan. It's an incredible story. I wonder if he can repeat it.

I wonder if he had to take leave from Oracle again just specifically for this World Cup. It's extraordinary. He works for a blue chip company and he's also going to play in a World Cup. I don't know, it just blows my mind that scenario that you're working for one of the most famous companies in the world and also playing in the T20 World cup probably on your annual leave. It blows my mind. But it was, it was a tremendous shame for the USA that Aaron Jones isn't going to feature. It wasn't just Pakistan, of course. It was the first match of the last World cup in the USA versus Canada where he scored, you know, 90 plus innings in no time at all. Really, really skillful player and it's a tremendous shame that he's been caught up in this kind of stuff. But I think, you know, the USA do have a lot of backup talent and their cricketing infrastructure has improved more and more as well. In terms of the cricket itself, I'm not talking about the governance, just talking about the cricket. You know, minor league cricket and then major league cricket. There's been a huge influx of talent and exposure to world class talent in the usa. So it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they turn Pakistan over again or indeed India.

It certainly isn't. And we are going to have the very best seat in the house. We're a very lucky team out here in Sri Lanka because we're going to get to see a very wide variety of sides if England qualify, which you'd expect them to do from their group. They'll be coming over to Sri Lanka having had plenty of experience in these conditions and possibly with the team that you kind of need to make it through to that semi finals and who knows, final later on. That's all from us. Thank you to Atif and Alex to Henry and we're going to bring you every ball of every match for the T20 World cup across BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport website and app, and of course five Sport Extra, possibly even Sports Extra 2 and 3 which you can find on BBC Sounds, starting with Pakistan against the Netherlands from the SSC here in colombo. That's at first 5:30am GMT Saturday with coverage starting at 5:15 before Scotland begin their campaign against West Indies. Coverage of that from 9:15 on Saturday morning. Then switch over the sports extra three at 1:15 Saturday afternoon for India against the USA. Three games in a day. Make sure you're subscribed to the TMS pod on Sounds too, so you never miss an episode. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you next time.

You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live.

Five Live Sports the Six Nations Rugby's Greatest Championship what a day of the.

Six nations it's been.

Live commentary of every match on BBC Sounds and I think he has the try.

Just a stunning score. One of the all time great tries the rugby in a weekly podcast will be daily throughout the tournament with all the best insight and analysis from the biggest names in the game.

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