Collingwood wants Twenty20 captaincy despite IPL woes
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Your support makes all the difference.Paul Collingwood wants to captain England at this year's Twenty20 World Cup even though he is not considered good enough for a starting place in his Indian Premier League (IPL) team.
Collingwood is favourite to lead hosts England after Test and one-day skipper Andrew Strauss was left out of the squad for the 5-21 June tournament.
"Yes, I am interested. It would be an exciting challenge to lead England in a tournament on home soil," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph today.
"But I am still waiting to hear, just like the other players. The squad is due to be announced on Friday, so I am sure everything will be tied up by then."
The second edition of the lucrative IPL was switched to South Africa due to security concerns and logistical issues surrounding the ongoing Indian general elections and Collingwood has mixed emotions over his team's performance so far.
"I have enough to think about out here in South Africa. The good news is that my fellow Delhi Daredevils have given us a 100 per cent record in the Indian Premier League after three games.
"The bad news is that I've not been in the starting XI yet, and only an injury to one of the four first-choice overseas players is likely to change that.
"AB de Villiers and Tillakeratne Dilshan are both among the leading run-scorers, while the bowlers, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes, have been on the money too."
England have struggled in the one day game for many years and despite inventing the Twenty20 format, have quickly fallen behind in that area too.
Having Collingwood and England team mates such as former captain Kevin Pietersen playing in the IPL should, in theory, improve their understanding of the game ahead of the World Cup.
"Twenty20 may seem like a frantic game but I have yet to see anyone in the Daredevils lose their composure, even when a couple of early wickets have gone down," Collingwood said.
"It's so important not to panic. The same point was proven by Ravi Bopara when he scored a match-winning 84 for Punjab Kings XI on Friday.
"I think he is only just beginning to discover what he is capable of as a batsman.
"He stayed calm and timed his surge very well. That sort of experience is invaluable because it teaches you what sort of target you are capable of chasing - and often it is higher than you realised."
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