In the six T20 World Cups held so far, five different teams have won the title — the shortest format of cricket makes all equals and it’s unwise to predict one winner, so here’s a look at the top contenders:
India
India reluctantly embraced T20 cricket but the BCCI is so tightly in grip of this version of cricket that it would appear that it was invented for BCCI. India is now the financial hub of T20 cricket, and all top players wish to ply their trade in the IPL. This gives emerging Indian players a great opportunity to rub shoulders with the biggest names in world cricket. Ironically, however, India’s only T20 World Cup title came in 2007, before the IPL came into existence. But fans keep hope, and this time around too, India would be one of the favourites to win the title — though realistically, in T20 cricket, form can come and go rather quickly.
India have a strong team this time around, too: KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma at the top, Virat Kohli at No. 3, followed by the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. The young Ishan Kishan is explosive, as he showed in the warm-up match against England, while Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur can hit the ball hard and far.
In the bowling department, the spinners are expected to excel on the slowish wickets in the UAE, where the recent IPL has left the tracks “tired”, as Australian paceman Pat Cummins believes. Much is expected of the young leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, chosen ahead of the experienced Yuzvendra Chahal. Then there is Ravichandran Ashwin, brought back to the team on the back of his recent performance in the IPL, and Varun Chakravarthy — a leg-spinner touted as a mystery spinner — can be difficult to score off. The left-arm spin option would be provided by Jadeja.
Super 12
Group 1
England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Group 2
India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia
Namibia stun Ireland to make it to Super 12
DUBAI: Minnows Namibia pulled off an upset in their final preliminary round match, stunning Test-playing nation Ireland to advance to the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.
Australia Always in the race
Australia, five-time winners of the 50-over World Cup, have never won the T20 World Cup — it is a mystery, or it could be put down to the vagaries of the format. Yet, every time the T20 World Cup comes up, Australia are, and must be, counted among the favourites. There are plenty of reasons for that — the team always has batsmen who can smash any bowling attack out of the park, and bowlers who can blow away any batting line-up. Australia have big match-winners in Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and David Warner; among the fast bowlers they have Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. These men, if they play to potential, could drive the team all the way.
Now, a dampener: Australia come into the tournament after an embarrassing 1-4 defeat against Bangladesh. The last time they won a T20I series was way back in February 2020, in the good old pre-Covid days. Since then they’ve lost consecutive series to India, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh. Warner is below his best, having faced the embarrassment of having been given only two games in the recent IPL, in which he made 0 and 2. He made 0 and 1 in the warm-up matches. Finch last played in the series they lost to West Indies, but he remains a destructive batter. Maxwell’s presence in the middle-order boosts the team, given his recent form in the IPL in the same conditions. Then there is Steve Smith — even though he does not seem to relish the T20 format very much, he can play amazing strokes and change the complexion of the game any time.
Pakistan Chaos reigns
With Pakistan, expect the unexpected — which may or may not mean anything — but for sure expect some brilliance, some chaos, and lots of excitement.
The focus might be perpetually on Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, but Mohammad Rizwan has emerged as a real threat over the last few years: his fearless strokes and strong will cannot be easily translated into numbers, but his T20I average is a high 48.40 with a strike rate of 129.09. The Peshawar-born opener-wicketkeeper is a late bloomer by Pakistani standards — he’s in his 30th year now — and he seems to be making up for lost time in all formats. With Azam, he forms a formidable opening pair — the captain is the world No. 2 in T20I rankings, two spots above India’s Virat Kohli. Pakistan are familiar with the conditions as the UAE has been the home venue to them since 2009.
The late inclusion of Shoaib Malik and Fakhar Zaman boosts the team. Then there are two wily customers in Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez. The spin of Hafeez and Malik would prove handy, and more depth is provided by Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz. The pace attack is fine, with Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf likely to be the spearheads. All in all, Pakistan seem strong. Don’t be surprised if they win the tournament — or if they fail to qualify for the semifinals, too.
England Super power
England possessed stunning firepower and a fearless attitude when they won the 50-over World Cup at home n 2019, though that win came after several hiccups. But the win was the high point of their project of becoming a white-ball superpower. England are extremely strong even now — even without the totemic Ben Stokes or Jofra Archer — and would like their chances of holding the T20 and 50-over trophies simultaneously.
Their batting line-up is strong and strokeful, as a consequence of their putting the focus on T20Is over the last few years. Since the 2016 loss, Joe Root and Alex Hales have fallen away, the unheralded Dawid Malan has become a force in T20Is, and Jos Buttler has moved from the middle-order to the top of the order, becoming feared as a destructive batter. Jason Roy is the other feared opener, Liam Livingstone has replaced Stokes for now, while Eoin Morgan can destroy any bowling attack. Then there are Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali to come down the order. Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid are competent hitters. In short, on paper, England are peerless. The question is how will they tackle the slower pitches in the UAE? They did struggle in the series against India in Ahmedabad earlier this year, losing the series 2-3.
West Indies Defenders on back foot
Two-time champions won the tournament the last time it was held in 2016, with four famous strikes for sixers by Carlos Brathwaite off Ben Stokes in the final in Kolkata, when 24 runs were needed off the final over. But much has changed since then. West Indies, because of the firepower their hitters possess, can never be ruled out of any contest, but they have a difficult game to start with, against a very strong England on Saturday.
Coming after two very poor performances — with losses to Pakistan and Afghanistan — in the warm-up stages, this would be a huge challenge for West Indies. Their batting and bowling were poor against both Pakistan and Afghanistan — against Pakistan, West Indies could manage only 130/7, and then they allowed Afghanistan to rack up a formidable 189/5 before themselves subsiding to 133/5. West Indies would need to turn things around very quickly — the likes of Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran must start firing. Chris Gayle had a poor CPL and got only two matches in the IPL, and at 42 years of age, it is up to him to prove he’s good enough.
South Africa Great talent
South Africa are not the force they used to be, but count them out at your own peril — their recent form has been good with three consecutive T20I series wins. Their wins over Afghanistan and Pakistan in the warm-up matches were encouraging. Rassie van der Dussen’s 51-ball 101 made the chase of 187 a thriller against Pakistan, with a last-ball win.
No team has won more T20I matches this year than South Africa with 11 and their seven-match winning streak is the best active streak in men’s T20Is currently. Wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock has clocked 455 runs this year at a fantastic average of 56.87 and a strike rate of 135.82. Aiden Markram (with 408 runs at 40.80) and Reeza Hendricks (357 at 35.70) have contributed strongly with the bat in the team’s record this year. South Africa, like always, possess a top-class fast-bowling attack: Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje can trouble the world’s best. Then there is wrist-spinner Tabriz Shamsi, the world’s No. 1 ranked bowler in T20Is. The 31-year-old figured in the IPL recently and would know just what line and lengths to bowl on the UAE tracks.
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