London: England's powerful batting line-up will give them a strong chance of winning the forthcoming World Twenty20, according to former captain Paul Collingwood.
Collingwood was skipper of the national team when they lifted the World T20 trophy in 2010, beating Australia in the final in Barbados.
T20 specialists Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Sam Billings, Jason Roy and James Vince, who are part of the T20 squad that will fly to India have been part of successes recently and coach Trevor Bayliss will hope the young team delivers well in spinner friendly pitches.
"With players like that, you'll always have a chance to win major tournaments. The fielding is world-class, the batting line-up is powerful right down to nine or 10. There are good things happening in this team," Collingwood was quoted as saying by the BBC on Thursday.
The former all-rounder will travel to India with the England team as a batting consultant.
"Everybody has seen the way white-ball cricket has been going over the past year, it's been very exciting. We need to realise the good things they've been doing the past year, the way they've played their cricket, these guys are very much athletes now. If they play like they did against Australia or New Zealand they can beat anyone," the 39-year-old said.
Batsman Vince is also confident that England have the talent to be strong challengers.
The 24-year-old did not feature on the recent tour of South Africa, but he was part of the Karachi Kings team which reached the semi-finals of the Pakistan Super League in February.
"Although the South Africa series didn't quite go to plan, the way the guys have been playing their one-day cricket and T20 cricket over the last 12 months or so gives us a real chance. We'll just go out there and play the way we can do, and if we do that we'll go somewhere," Vince said.
