Muscat, Oct 16
India, England and the holders West Indies will be among the favourites to lift the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 as action shifts to Oman and UAE for the first time ever.
With a well-balanced outfit that covers most bases including the crucial spin department, India will be front-runners on the slow and low pitches of the UAE.
India will be in a tough group with a mouth-watering opening clash against arch-rivals Pakistan and a vastly improved New Zealand side but the inaugural World T20 champions are expected to make the semifinals quite comfortably.
A dream opening pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma along with classy batsmen such as Suryakumar Yadav in their ranks coupled with the explosive potential of Rishabh Pant, India’s batting will worry the opposition.
Hardik Pandya’s fitness will determine his role in the team but Shardul Thakur is there to address this concern. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarty is an unknown entity to the outside world and could be the X-factor for the Indians.
However, his fitness will be critical in the days building up to the opening game against Pakistan.
MS Dhoni coming into the team as mentor will give a big push to India’s think-tank with his astute cricketing brain that can help Ravi Shastri and Co and also bring in some good luck charm with Virat Kohli having never won an ICC title.
ENGLAND, WINDIES NO PUSHOVERS
England are a formidable limited overs side ever since they won the 2019 50-over World Cup and it’s no different in T20Is as well.
With destructive batsmen all the way down to number 9 and very effective spinners like Adil Rasheed and Moeen Ali in their ranks, England can give the best teams a run for their money.
The experience that English players gain having played in the IPL is invaluable especially after the conclusion of the League in the UAE with Eoin Morgan captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The six-hitters from the Caribbean are serious contenders too and can never be ruled out with their big-hitting prowess. The likes of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard etc can be a nightmare for any opponent once they get going and their six-hitting skills could be even more game-changing in low-scoring matches in the UAE.
UNPREDICTABLE PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
The mercurial Pakistan team can never be written off although they are not at the peak of their powers at the moment. However, the flair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan coupled with the experience of Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed could do the trick for Pakistan if they play sensible and smart cricket.
Afghanistan could be the wildcards with some of the world’s best spinners in their ranks with the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
And on the slow-paced, turning tracks in the UAE, if these spinners really get going the Afghans could be quite a handful on a given day.
Although, the big boys will be in the reckoning for the spoils of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, the format is such that it could be any team’s World Cup once we reach the knockouts.
