England, who are in a group with West Indies, Scotland, Nepal and Italy, come into the World Cup viewed as one of the contenders behind overwhelming favourites India.
England’s 3-0 win in Sri Lanka, where they will play their entire Super 8 phase should they qualify, means they have won 10 of their past 11 T20s.
After missing the final T20 against Sri Lanka with a back spasm, key opening batter Phil Salt has been passed fit for England’s tournament opener – their first meeting in any format against Nepal.
Left-arm opening bowler Luke Wood has been preferred to Jamie Overton.
Brook comes into the tournament in good form despite the wider situation. He scored 136 not out from 66 balls in the third ODI in Sri Lanka.
“Thankfully, I’m fairly good at hitting a ball, so I don’t think it has affected me,” he said.
“It’s weird, as a professional sportsman, when you get out to the wicket, and you’re a batter, everything just seems to float away and you don’t even know what’s going on. All you’re focusing on is that cricket ball.
“Even when the crowds are massive, sometimes you don’t even realise that there’s any noise when you’re batting. Luckily I got into that bubble and I managed to bat fairly well.”
After training at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday and Friday, England have opted against training on Saturday because it would involve a three-hour round-trip to Navi Mumbai.
The Wankhede is unavailable because of India’s opening match of the tournament against USA, which begins at 13:30 GMT.
England team to play 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.
