ENG vs PAK | Liam Livingstone as a package is very exciting for us, admits Paul Collingwood
On the back of Liam Livingstone’s quick-fire century, England’s caretaker head coach Paul Collingwood described the all-rounder as a very exciting package across the board. Alongside that, he also admitted that the England batting line-up looks very scary and could be daunting for the opposition.
Having shown his prowess across global T20 leagues, Liam Livingstone, in the absence of Ben Stokes had the opportunity to audition for the World T20 as an all-rounder. Prior to the recall, the right-handed batsman had just scores of 16 and 0 in the shortest format. Having shown glimpses of hope in the clash against Sri Lanka earlier this year, the all-rounder started the encounter against Pakistan on an all-time high.
In the most swashbuckling and threatening fashion, Livingstone got himself off to a rapid start, with a 17-ball half-century that broke the English record, with three boundaries and five sixes. However, he wasn’t done, with his next 50 coming off 25 balls, as he once again broke the record for the fastest century in the history of T20I cricket in the country. On the back of his performance, England’s caretaker head coach Paul Collingwood admitted that the right-hander as a package is a very exciting prospect for the national team.
"I think that innings is as exciting an innings as we've seen in an English shirt as we've seen for some time. The way he went about the innings, how clean he hit the ball right from the start was incredible to watch in person. It's exciting to think how powerful that batting unit could be with someone like him in it,” Collingwood stated, reported ESPNCricinfo.
"What he gives as an overall package is very exciting. It's not just his power-hitting, it's also what he gives with the ball. He's very much a modern T20 cricketer. He can bowl legspin and offspin depending on whether he's bowling against right or left-handed batsmen, and he's an exceptional fielder so as an overall package,” he added.
For England, there is the ‘problem of plenty’ with several batsmen in the unit, who all could feature in the most fearsome of T20I sides. However, owing to the problems with combinations, the Three Lions would be forced to make tough calls in the coming days, when Stokes returns to the unit. Collingwood also insisted that the batting line-up could be scary to the opposition, with an incredible depth in the batting order.
"That batting line-up is a scary batting line-up. Oppositions are going to look at it and think it's going to be difficult to bowl at. When you've got Stokesy coming back in and Jos at the top of the order, it can be scary. The more players you can have like that... that you can draw upon if you've got injuries or a little bit of loss of form, whatever it may be, the better. If we've got all those guys firing like they can, it's going to be a very strong, powerful batting unit," he concluded.
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