Champions League Twenty20 2009 - LIVE TV, PHOTOS,NEWS

	Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were once the keys to England's success but Pietersen believes a new batch of players can be just as dangerous © Getty Images
Related Links Player/Officials: Ravi Bopara | Kevin Pietersen Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 | Australia tour of England Teams: Australia | England

Kevin Pietersen is confident that England's Ashes hopes hinge not just on stars like himself and Andrew Flintoff following the emergence of several strong new players. Neither Pietersen nor Flintoff was available for the recent one-day series against West Indies, which England won convincingly, and Pietersen believes the same balance will be present in the Ashes squad.

"England are not relying on one or two players," Pietersen said. "If you look at Australia during their good times, if [Matthew] Hayden didn't perform, [Adam] Gilchrist did, and the best thing about what's happening now is that if I fail like I did when I got a first-baller at Lord's, we still got a decent total."

Ravi Bopara has been a revelation in England's top order this year, having scored centuries in all three of his Tests against West Indies. Pietersen said it was fantastic to have an in-form Bopara in the squad ahead of the Ashes.

"I've actually been quite annoyed when people have said the likes of Ravi are my rivals to counter the Australians," he said. "I am with Ravi all day every day, I love the bloke, his confidence, the way he plays without fear, the way he talks about things and the way he doesn't worry.

"I love his approach and it's something a lot of the players can learn from. [Stuart] Broad has been exceptional, Matty Prior is somebody who has improved so much as well and James Anderson produced a brilliant display at Durham the other day."

Pietersen's lead-in to the Ashes includes the ICC World Twenty20 and he said his fitness was not in doubt for the event despite his recent Achilles tendon injury. Pietersen will be keen to rectify his Twenty20 reputation - he said during the 2007 tournament he had played silly shots for a silly game - and he has no doubt of the importance of the event these days.

"We are playing here to win a World Cup," he said. "We have never won a world tournament so this is of the utmost importance. But I think a lot of us are behind the Indian players and the South Africans because we haven't played as much."

	Since the Lahore attacks, Pakistan have only played a low-key ODI series against Australia in the UAE © AFP
Related Links Player/Officials: Younis Khan Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 Teams: Pakistan

Pakistan's captain, Younis Khan, is ready to turn England into his team's home away from home, and views success in the World Twenty20 as the best way to make his troubled nation smile again.

Since the atrocities outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in March, in which eight security and transport personnel were killed in a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus, Pakistan's cricketers have been forced into exile. They were barred from competing in the IPL, and their only action since the attack was a low-key ODI series against Australia in the UAE.

Now, however, they are on the world stage in a big way, lining up alongside England and Netherlands in the group stage of a competition that, but for a moment's aberration from Misbah-ul-Haq against India in September 2007, they might well have won at the first attempt.

"It is special to be back on the world stage," Younis told reporters at Lord's. "Especially in Twenty20s, and especially in England. We are suffering from not playing regularly, and no-one is coming to Pakistan, but all the time in the last few months I have been talking to the boys, and telling them to do well [in this tournament]. There are a lot of media here, and [if we succeed] we'll be well on our way to our mission, so to speak. It's very important for us."

There has been much talk in recent weeks about overkill of the Twenty20 format, and burn-out of the game's star players, but such issues couldn't be less of a problem for Pakistan, who are desperate to get stuck into some meaningful cricket. "If you don't play regularly, you don't have that match fitness," said Younis. "But the beauty of international cricket is that it is changing all the time in different conditions, so we feel fresh and will do well in England, in'shallah."

Younis admitted his team's security for this tournament had been stepped up from previous visits to England, but added that such a situation had become common-place for Pakistan. Of greater importance was the opportunity that the visit provides his young players, especially with the prospect of a return to England next summer to play a Test series against Australia.

"Playing in England is everyone's dream," said Younis. "I have been over here for county cricket [with Yorkshire], and my first Test at Lord's was fantastic for me. Playing cricket in Pakistan would be better, but we have problems as everyone knows. England is the home of cricket, it will be good for our youngsters to learn to play in any conditions. Sometimes here it rains, sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold."

With that in mind, Younis said that his team's tactics would revolve around a more patient game that has sometimes been witnessed in Twenty20 cricket. "I have a couple of plans," he said. "T20 looks short, but it's not - 120 balls is enough. If you bat normally but with energy, especially in the middle order where you need good running between the wickets, [a score of] 180-190 is very easy.

"In English conditions the new ball does seam, so you need someone like Salman Butt who can play for 20 overs. But in the middle order, we have big hitters like Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq, he's a top Twenty20 batsman. So we are not lacking in players."

Afridi's power-hitting game might have been designed with Twenty20 cricket in mind, but Younis was careful not to expect him to shred the opposition every innings. "Afridi was one of best players of the last tournament," he said. "As a captain I have a few good players, but the main thing is everyone respects him. He'll come in and though it's not possible to hit every ball for six, the expectation is there. He's always done a good job for me, and he'll do good for Pakistan."

Reflecting on the near-miss in 2007, Younis admitted that there had been a few players in tears at the end of the final in Johannesburg. When five runs were needed for victory, Misbah mistimed an attempted scoop over fine leg and lobbed a simple chance to Sreesanth on the edge of the circle. But he remained confident that his team could achieve at least a top-four finish this time, and maybe even go one better than two years ago.

"The finishing touches were not there in 2007," said Younis. "But it was fantastic to be a part of that team in the final. Some guys were crying at the end, but in T20 everything can change. My confidence is that I'll take this trophy to Pakistan, but if the plan works ins'hallah it'll be an achievement for us to finish in the top four.

"We have a lot of followers all the time in England, and a lot of cities here have Pakistanis and Indians," he said. "That's the main reason I'm happy to be in England. Our fans are fantastic back home, they are lovers of T20, and now it's dependent on us to prove ourselves. If we play good cricket it will be good for our nation. These days the whole nation is depressed, and only cricket [can lift it]. If we play good and win something, they will cheer. To finish in the top four, my nation will come again and start cheering."