Rob Key has said the much-criticised Indian Premier League has improved England's chances of winning the World Twenty20 on home soil next month.

Key is a part of a 15-man squad for the competition which includes seven players who were signed by IPL franchises for the tournament being staged in South Africa - even though Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood and Graham Napier have been confined to the bench.

Although he lost out to Collingwood in the race to be captain, Key led Kent to Twenty20 Cup glory in 2007, as well as guiding them to the final last summer, so the 29-year-old knows exactly what is required to succeed in the shortest form of the game.

The England-qualified players' participation in the IPL has caused controversy, especially with Collingwood and Shah's lack of activity, as well as Andrew Flintoff's knee injury, but Key is convinced it can work in England's favour when the competition begins on 5 June. "The problem England have had with Twenty20 is that the people who have played it the least are their main players," said Key. "Generally, our domestic Twenty20 Cup has coincided with the one-day internationals here.

"Twenty20 is a game you have to play. You can't just walk into a Twenty20 game and expect to adapt to it straight away.

"That's why the experience of the IPL will only help our players' games in the World Twenty20.

"We have a squad containing players whose basic game is good enough for all forms of cricket."

England will take on Pakistan and the Netherlands in the first-round group stage as they attempt to improve on a poor performance at the inaugural World Twenty20 two years ago, when the team lost four of their five matches.

Key is confident that the squad can succeed. He pointed to the all-round talents of Graham Napier, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Flintoff - who the England and Wales Cricket Board believe will recover from knee surgery in time to play - as evidence of the threat England can carry.

The batsman added: "There are players who can hit a hell of a long ball, like Napier, Flintoff and Mascarenhas, but also bowl well. So we have a good balance."