England left-arm spinner Liam Dawson insisted the two-time champions will not be consumed by the buzz around Pakistan’s mystery spinner Usman Tariq ahead of Tuesday’s crucial T20 World Cup Super Eights encounter. He stressed that England are preparing for Pakistan’s entire spin unit rather than focusing on one individual threat.England head into the contest on the back of a convincing 51-run win over co-hosts Sri Lanka. Another victory against Pakistan would seal a top-two finish in their Super Eights group and confirm a semifinal berth.
However, there are concerns over England’s susceptibility to spin after four of their top five batters were dismissed by Sri Lankan spinners in their previous outing — an issue that could be tested against a Pakistan attack featuring Tariq, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha and Mohammad Nawaz.Tariq has drawn attention throughout the tournament for his unusual action, including a pronounced pause before delivering his off-breaks. England captain Harry Brook was even seen imitating Tariq’s bowling style during practice. Despite the spotlight on the Pakistani spinner, Dawson underlined the importance of a balanced approach.“It’s not all about Tariq. They’re a very good team with some dangerous players, and Tariq’s obviously a very good bowler. But we’re not going to just look at him. We’ll look at the whole team and see how we can nullify them,” Dawson told reporters on the eve of the match.Dawson played a key role in England’s win over Sri Lanka, combining with Will Jacks and Adil Rashid to claim seven wickets as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 95 while chasing 146/9. He pointed to the diversity within England’s spin attack as a major strength.“We’re all very different types of spinners. Jacksy gets a lot of overspin and a lot of bounce. Dilly (Rashid) has all his variations. Me – I sort of don’t get the bounce that the other two get. It will be a different challenge on Tuesday night. We might get a better batting wicket. We’ll have to see.”“Out of the three or four of us, I’m probably more the defensive spinner in this, and I know that’s my role, and I’m just trying to be consistent for the captain. Adil can use all his tricks, and he comes on us to get the wickets and get us back in games or put us ahead in games.“We’re all very experienced. If you look at the amount of cricket that me and Adil have played, even Jacks as well, it’s probably only with Beth that’s probably got a little bit less experience. But there’s a lot of trust in the guys that go out there and try to execute what you want to try and do,” he added.
