One last chance for England with World Cup around the corner

The Twenty20 World Cup begins in October with chances to book a place in the squad running out

England take on Pakistan in a three-match series (Getty Images)

Time waits for no man in sport and nowhere is that truer than cricket's shortest form.

It is a big year for the English game and that includes Twenty20 with the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates now just around the corner.

Captain Eoin Morgan knows the bulk of the group who will travel to try and add the 20-over title to the 50-over one in October.

But with a Test series with India on the horizon keeping some of the more established names rested up, the England skipper has an unexpected chance to see a few of those whose ticket to the tournament isn't yet rubber-stamped.

Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Lewis Gregory, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson and David Willey are all in with a shout of selection and will get their chance to impress with Pakistan in town for a three-match series.

The first match kicks off on Friday at Trent Bridge with Morgan keen to see what he has at his disposal.

"Knowing what is ahead, we need to look a little bit more into strength in depth," he said. "You'll see us giving opportunities and going through various little options in the next three games for possible injury replacements for certain players.

"The priority throughout the series will be to give guys opportunities and we'll be treating it as though it is our last chance to look at guys in various positions in our side."

Mahmood is the name on everyone's lips after a standout performance in the 3-0 whitewash of the same opponents in the recent ODI series.

The Lancashire quick impressed both first up with the new ball but also at the death, an area where England are looking to improve.

Morgan wants as many options to pick from as possible and is eager to see how all of his bowlers deal with the pressure of delivering when a game is on the line.

"I think everybody is going to get an opportunity to bowl at the death," he added. "Everybody will have a chance. Saqib is coming off a pretty big high of bowling well in the one-day series, but obviously T20 is a different game.

"Certainly in the first couple of games they probably weren't exposed in the death bowling side of things because they bowled so well (at the start), so it's an opportunity in these three games to look at guys under pressure."

Morgan has spent a rare few weeks not out in the middle as one of the original squad forced into self-isolation by a Covid outbreak.

He was able to sit back and relax as the replacements did themselves proud, however, exhibiting the same brand of explosive, positive cricket that has seen England rocket right to the top of the white-ball game.

"With the amount of cricket we play, you don't get to enjoy the cricket as much as you'd like. So sitting back and watching the guys the way the guys played was hugely satisfying," he added.

"I think everybody within the group was extremely proud to watch them play like they did, simply because it's the biggest compliment you could pay to anybody who played in the World Cup group.

"Considering where we were in 2015 to where we are now is a huge achievement. Guys recognise that opportunities are few and far between but when they do come, the method that team plays is starting to resonate with people around the country, which is great."