The ICC T20 World Cup is starting next week in Sri Lanka. It
promises to be exciting and filled with surprise results. Here are my
predictions followed by the tournament schedule.
The Favourites
England – With or without Kevin Pietersen they are still the
defending champions and the Number 1 ranked T20 side so you have to make them
favourites. They have a very young side led by Stuart Broad. Batsmen like Alex
Hales, Joss Buttler and Jonny Bairstow are still relatively unknown in the cricketing
world. They might struggle against spin though.
 |
| Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni |
India – The IPL gives them a huge pool of T20 talent to
choose from. The return of big-hitting
Yuvraj Singh from cancer is a huge boost to the team. They still have the
explosive World cup winning batsmen like Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Raina and
Kohli. The conditions should suit India very nicely as they recently toured Sri
Lanka. Oh I almost forgot! They are the current 50-over World cup champs and
won the 1st T20 World Cup ever held.
Sri Lanka – The hosts. This alone gives them a huge
advantage on everyone else in the competition. What counts against them though
is that no host country has won this cup or even reached the final. Their team
still has the experience of Jayawardena and Sangakkara to guide them. They also
have some young players like Chandimal and Thirimanne in the side. Captain:
Mahela Jayawardena
 |
| Chris Gayle |
West Indies – The dark horses. Chris Gayle! Chris Gayle!
Chris Gayle! His return adds 50% to the team effort. If he has a good
tournament then expects West Indies to reach the last 4. They also have the
likes of Pollard, Narine, Dwayne Bravo
and Marlon Samuels who can be match winners on their own. They are my pick to
win the whole thing. Captain: Darren Sammy
The Surprise Packages
Pakistan – Their players do not play IPL cricket, they also
do not play international games in their own country. They have a team capable
of beating everyone at this tournament and winning it. The only question is do
they want to? They have a very experience squad who have played in many ICC
World Cup events before. Imran Nazir, Abdur Razzaq and Shahid Afridi seem to
have been around forever. They also have a trump card in spinner Saeed Ajmal. I
do not see them reaching Super 8s
Captain: Mohammed Hafeez
South Africa – They have new captain in AB de Villiers. He
will feel the pressure of leading this team at a big event for the 1st
time. A team that is quietly confident of doing well. Their main goal is the
2015 World Cup. That is their main focus. They have a balanced bowling attack
with lots of spinners to complement the fire from Steyn and Morkel. They will
crash out in the Super 8s. It is too early to expect the Kirsten experiment to
bear fruits.
 |
| Hashim Amla |
I do not see Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh doing
anything special during this T20 World Cup. I just hope the rain stays away. Click here to see tournament schedule and SA times.
