WT20: England will rely on player versatility to take them through

Satisfied with England's campaign in the ICC World Twenty20 so far, captain Eoin Morgan said every player in the side has showcased versatility during the tournament, making the side a "powerful" unit heading into Wednesday’s semi-final against New Zealand.

In two matches, England batsmen scored big against West Indies and South Africa while spinners defended a small total against Afghanistan. The pacers were also brilliant at the death against Sri Lanka en route their last four entry.

"We haven't had to repeat the same thing twice. We showed different sides to everyone's personality, what they have got as opposed to just what they do on a day-to-day basis. That shows the group as a whole can be very powerful," Morgan said ahead of his team's semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday.

Morgan exuded quiet confidence but insisted that his team is still quite far from the final spot.

"I feel excited. I don't feel like I'm close to World Cup final. I'm not going too far ahead of myself. We've got a game, a top game tomorrow against a strong New Zealand side, who probably have played the best cricket of the tournament so far in the group stages. So we are going to have a very strong game tomorrow to beat New Zealand," Morgan said.

Morgan has the experience of winning a World T20 back in 2010 when England beat Australia in the final with Paul Collingwood in charge. Incidentally, Collingwood is here with the England team as a consultant.

"Certainly, my experience in the knock-out stages of a tournament is that you've done the hard work and it's almost now you earn a licence to go out and express yourself as much as you can. So, if you've guys coming out very relaxed about performing on the big stage, I think that takes a lot of weight off the shoulders," the skipper explained.

Asked about the similarity between the victorious 2010 team and the current bunch, Morgan observed that it was the ability to remain calm and relaxed in pressure situations.

"I think they are hungry to win. It's all about having fun and enjoying what you are doing. If you don't have the drive to always want to improve, to win a game of cricket, you stand still for a long time, this side has showed strength which is similar to that 2010," said Morgan.

Morgan is also not bothered by New Zealand getting the favourites tag going into the semi-final.

"To be honest, it does not really bother us. We won the Sri Lanka game as favourites. It's going to be a tough game of cricket. Hope the pitch will be as good as it looks."

The England team have been stationed in the national capital for the last 11 days and the skipper believes that it could work as an advantage against New Zealand, who will be playing at their fifth different venue in five matches.

"We've grown used to the pitch a lot more than the first game here. It was probably drier and completely different circumstances."

Morgan said he is yet to believe the kind of improvement that England have made and how far they have come in the past one year after their exit from the 50-over World Cup.

"How far we've come? Absolutely not. I've been asked the question a couple of times after every series that we've played and I can't quite believe how far we've come overall in our white-ball cricket.

"The guys that we've selected have done outstandingly well and shown a great amount of attitude in learning. It's not always easy to come up against very strong sides, who knock you back on a day-to-day basis, but every question that's been asked of us we've come back with either a counter-answer or a more aggressive option."

Morgan praised his seamers for putting up an impressive show.

"Yeah, our seamers have gone really well. We've come into this tournament with an open-mindedness about the conditions we're coming up against, and that'll be no different tomorrow.

We're playing on a fresh wicket which has a really good covering of grass. It's changed over the last few games a little bit."

Morgan said coming to World T20, there was talk around the dressing room that they have to emulate New Zealand and Australia.

"I think that series was very important. Coming into this series, we talked about emulating what

Australia and New Zealand did at that World Cup. From where we were to where they were, we were miles away. In order to bridge the gap, we had to try and emulate the fashion in which they played and the aggressive nature in which they went about their game and particularly with the ball.

"Throughout the World Cup their swing bowlers were fantastic and that encourages a positive mindset throughout. With the bat, it can come more naturally so they did play a key part absolutely."

The skipper did not rule out the possibility of opposition playing Bolt and Southee but he accepted that the focus will be on slow bowlers.

"I don't think we can rule anything out. Their game-plan throughout the tournament has been to go with frontline spinners, which has worked for them. I'll leave that up to them."

The skipper is happy that they have Trevor Bayliss, who has won IPL as a coach with Kolkata Knight Riders and assistant coach Paul Farbrace, who guided Sri Lanka during their 2014 triumph.

"TB's (Bayliss) had a great amount of IPL experience so he knows what it's like being left out and having to come in and put in a match-winning performance along the line. So I think that's important."