T20: Who’s bringing it home?

The world is all set to witness the seventh edition of the action-packed T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to kick off from October 17 with the Super 12 round beginning on October 23 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

Though the tournament will take place in the UAE and Oman, the Board of Control for Cricket in India will remain the host as it had to take place in India, but the deteriorating Covid situation there earlier this year forced the change of venue.

On paper, twelve teams will contest for the trophy during the tournament. However, realistically, five, or if you don’t want to write off the unpredictable unit of Pakistan, six teams will fight for the gold.

The hosts India, reigning champions West Indies, world champions England, Test champions New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan will be the actual contender for the T20 crown, whereas, South Africa, Afghanistan, and the other four qualifying sides will be more like fillers.

The hosts, India, will enter the tournament as one of the favourites to win it. The 2007 World T20 Champions seem to have a perfect squad for the tournament. They have solid batsmen in the shape of captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. When it comes to bowling, they have fast bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami and quality spinners including Ravindra Jadeja and veteran Ravichandran Ashwin, who can be extremely effective in spin-friendly conditions. The only apparent flaw in the Indian ranks is probably their not-so-strong middle-order because they get very few opportunities to bat long overs.

The other hot favourites to win the campaign are the defending champions West Indies. The Caribbean Giants have probably the most experienced squad in the tournament. Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons and Andre Fletcher have all been a part of Windies’ world cup-winning squad either in 2012 or 2016.

The two-time world champions have the kind of batting and bowling attack that can do well on the slow and spinning tracks of the UAE. In fact, the two World Cups that they have won were played in Sri Lanka and India which have spinning wickets.

Talking of England, if they had the services of their star all-rounder Ben Stokes and pacer Jofra Archer, they would have been a real threat to all the competitors in the event. Moreover, except for Adil Rashid, England lack any quality spinner. Having said that, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow are all match-winners in their own right.

On the other hand, New Zealand and Australia have just an outside chance of becoming the champions. The Kiwis have a phenomenal record in ICC events; however, for some reason, they have failed to reflect the same performance in T20 World Cups. Nonetheless, the Blackcaps can surprise the world as their current T20I squad is more versatile than what they had in 2016. The addition of players like Devon Conway, Tim Seifert, Lockie Ferguson and Kyle Jamieson have notched up their batting and bowling strength.

Meanwhile, Australia is on the list of contenders just because they are the Mighty Aussies. The Kangaroos have been a mediocre side at best in the T20Is, winning just 73 and losing 68 games out of 146 that they have played so far. Furthermore, they have won just five out of 15 games in 2021, sustaining back-to-back defeats against the West Indies and Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the return of Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins in the squad can change their fate.

Now comes the interesting part, analysing Pakistan. If you evaluate logically, Pakistan’s recent run in international cricket, the turmoil in the Pakistan Cricket Board and the last-minute changes in the squad, the Men-In-Green do not stand a chance. However, logic doesn’t apply to Pakistan cricket. It’s all madness.

Pakistan have performed the best when they are least expected to. Who can forget their Champions Trophy triumph in 2017? They were the lowest-ranked side in the tournament with an inexperienced squad, yet they blew away the best sides of the world.

Moreover, UAE has been Pakistan’s second home. They have played a lot of cricket there and done pretty well at the venue. With the consistency of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, if Pakistan’s middle-order fires, they have a good enough bowling line to become a force to reckon.

The writer is senior Sub-Editor, Bol News