Collingwood ready for Twenty20 challenge
England captain Paul Collingwood believes his side's week in the United Arab Emirates will be pivotal in ensuring the players hit the ground running in the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.
England plays Pakistan in two Twenty20 Internationals at Dubai Sports City on Friday and Saturday evenings - the WorldCall T-20 Challenge presented by Bank Alfalah - as well as a warm-up match against the England Lions in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
They are the last matches England will play in the shortest international format of the game before the tournament in the Caribbean in April and May and Collingwood said that makes them vitally important.
"This is a big week for us in terms of a Twenty20 squad of players and for getting our minds back on to Twenty20 cricket," he said after the squad arrived in Dubai.
"It's good to have these two games before the World Cup to see exactly where we are in terms of team and squad selection.
"We've also got an important game on Wednesday which is going to feel like an international because the (England) Lions will certainly want to beat us.
"So, it's a great week for us in the Twenty20 form of the game but the important thing from this week is to get two wins under our belt and that would give us great confidence going into the World Cup," he added.
Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said he and his players were also relishing the opportunity to get some high-quality Twenty20 action under their belts so close to a major tournament.
"It's a great opportunity we have to utilize just before the World Cup as we have two matches against England, which is a very good side," he said.
And despite defeat in all the international matches Pakistan played on the recent tour of Australia, Malik was happy to talk up his side's Twenty20 credentials.
Malik's line-up features experienced Twenty20 stars like all-rounder Abdur Razzaq and fast bowler Umar Gul and also a crop of talented youngsters, including 19 year-old batsman Umar Akmal, 21 year-old fast bowler Muhammad Talha and 22 year-old wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
"We are the champions so we know how to play Twenty20 cricket," he said.
"They are also a good side and so it will be tough matches. We have a few good youngsters who did well in our domestic tournament and that is why they are here, so we are sure they will do well in these coming matches," he added.
As for England, its limited-overs squad has some confidence coming into these matches after a tour of South Africa that saw it share a two-match T20I series with the hosts and win the One-Day International series.
And Collingwood said: "I'm excited because our batting line-up seems to be getting stronger and stronger with every one-day game we're playing and the confidence we're building all the time.
"We seem to be a lot more confident now in our batting approach of being able to hit the ball hard and that is obviously one of the main attributes of playing Twenty20 cricket and clearing the ropes.
"Just look at the way the likes of Eoin Morgan played in South Africa (he made 67 from 34 balls in the ICC Champions Trophy against the hosts then 85 not out from 45 deliveries in a Twenty20 international against the same opponents).
"No disrespect to him but he probably didn't play that kind of innings during the last Twenty20 World Cup and even myself, with the (good) form I've been in, I didn't play very well in the Twenty20 World Cup.
"I think the way our one-day cricket has gone, a lot of the attitude and approaches we've used there have also been used in the Twenty20 form of the game.
"I think we can take a lot of the good stuff from the one-day series in South Africa and bring it into this as well.
"We've now got some important and experienced players in the side who can take the game away from the opposition. You need as many match-winners in the side as possible and now we are really starting to get a lot of them," he added.
