T20 World Cup: England captain Harry Brook says nightclub controversy was ‘horrible’

England, who are in a group that includes the West Indies, Scotland, Nepal and Italy, enter the World Cup as one of the contenders behind overwhelming favorites India.

England’s 3-0 win in Sri Lanka, where they will play the entire Super 8 stage if they qualify, means they have won 10 of their last 11 T20 matches.

After missing the T20 final against Sri Lanka due to a back spasm, key opening batsman Phil Salt is fit for England’s opening match of the tournament – their first encounter in any format against Nepal.

Left-arm bowler Luke Wood was preferred over Jamie Overton.

Brook enters the tournament in good shape despite the broader situation. He scored 136 off 66 balls in the third ODI in Sri Lanka.

“Fortunately, I’m fairly good at hitting the ball, so I don’t think it affected me,” he said.

“It’s a strange thing, as a professional athlete, when you walk out to the wicket as a batsman, everything seems to float away and you don’t even know what’s happening. All you’re focused on is that cricket ball.

“Even when the crowds are huge, sometimes you don’t even realize there’s any noise when you’re hitting. Fortunately, I got into that bubble and was able to hit fairly well.”

After training at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday and Friday, England chose not to train on Saturday as it would involve a three-hour round trip to Navi Mumbai.

Wankhede’s squad is unavailable for India’s opening match of the tournament against USA, which starts at 13:30 GMT.

England lineup to face Nepal: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood.