AHMEDABAD – England are keeping the faith with Dawid Malan and Chris Jordan despite their struggles on the tour of India, assistant coach Paul Collingwood said Friday.
England head into the final Twenty20 clash on Saturday level with India after Thursday's loss in the fourth game. But they also have their eye on this year's T20 World Cup, said Collingwood, who led the England side that won the 2010 title.
"It's a huge game," said Collingwood of Saturday's match.
There are worries however about Malan, who leads the T20 international batting rankings, but has struggled to score quickly in making 80 runs from four innings in this series.
The 33-year-old averaged 55 in his previous 14 matches.
"He hasn't quite found his rhythm on this tour but you've got to remember where he is in the world rankings and that's no fluke," said Collingwood.
"What he's done with an England shirt on in T20 cricket is pretty much exceptional up until this series."
England will "back their cricketers", Collingwood added.
"As a player you need security of knowing you're not going to get dropped after a couple of games because we do ask a lot of them.
"They go out there and are expected to score at strike-rates of up to 140. If you look at his record, Dawid Malan does exactly that for us.
"He'll be the first person to say it hasn't gone quite as well in the first four games but he's got an opportunity again to do something special."
Collingwood also defended fast bowler Jordan who has suffered against the Indian batters.
"Chris has been phenomenal in terms of death bowling for us. The experience he will gain here on these types of surfaces against a batting line-up that is very powerful will put him in good stead for the future.
"Of course we want to win here and now but a lot of decisions we make are for the future, for winning World Cups."
Collingwood said that clinching the series on Saturday would be a "huge incentive" for England's World Cup hopes.
"It's like a final for us and we've got two fantastic sides going head to head. When you're leading into World Cups you need these kind of experiences to see how players deal with the pressure."
AFP