Which Teams are Favorites for Winning the T20 World Cup in 2024?
The 9th edition of the Men’s T20 WC runs from 2 to 29 June, and the 2024 champions will be crowned in Barbados, at the Kensington Oval Stadium in Bridgetown.
Read More: Essential Guide to T20 World Cup Group D
England will attempt to defend their title and lift the trophy for a record 3rd time. But acting as an obstacle in their way will be 19 other teams, a couple of whom have won it all in the past and others who will look to etch their mark on the tournament for the first time.
The following are Winbaji’s 5 favorites to lift the silver trophy:
Champions in 2007: India
The shimmering array of talent at India’s disposal requires little introduction.
The 2024 tournament could be the final hurrah for captain Rohit Sharma, who has played in all 8 editions thus far, and his predecessor Virat Kohli – both of whom will be saddled with the steading the ship duty.
Suryakumar Yadav, who has effortlessly become an experienced, destructive middle-order batter, will be on the lookout to brutalize attacks.
Young pretender Yashasvi Jaiswal has been uprooting trees in all game formats. If the 22-year-old opener can build on the prolific beginning of his career, India’s leading order will be in an intimidating shape.
Jasprit Bumrah will dominate the seam attack, but it’s the spinners that Rohit will turn to as the tournament advances. The dry surfaces of the Caribbean are set to provide an excellent deal of help to the tweakers, and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja can be possible game-changers.
India’s only former T20 World Cup win came at the initial edition in South Africa in 2007, but they go into this tournament as the leading-ranked T20 side in the world.
Champions in 2010 & 2022: England
All attention will be on Jofra Archer’s return after years of injury-plagued frustration for the quick bowler. The right-armer bowled England’s Super Over in the fifty-over Crciekt WC final victory against New Zealand in 2009 but missed out on the T20 WC success in Australia in 2022.
Spinners could play a critical role in all bowling attacks, and England is blessed with the skilled duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid and also white-ball specialist Liam Livingston and the forthcoming tall left-armer Tom Hartley.
The battling team is straightforward with Will Jacks, Phil Salt, and Harry Brook adding explosives to established major hitters Jonny Bairstow and Buttler.
The 3-ranked T20 side will not let go of their title without a fight.
Champions in 2021: Australia
Australia will be on the lookout to pick up where they left off when it came to the 2023 world titles. It was the year they lifted the 50-over ICC WC trophy against hosts and favorites India and also the World Test Championship against the same competitor on the back of preserving the Ashes in England.
Contrary to their enviable record in the 50-over version, it took the Australian team 7 iterations to ultimately bag the T20 world title in 2021, which they lost to England the ensuing year.
Mitchell Marsh will lead the team that includes all the WC-winning names from 2023, barring Marnus Labuschagna and Steve Smith.
The unpredictable David Warner, having already retired from ODI and Test cricket for Australia, will be playing his final tournament.
Australia is behind only India in the team rankings of the ICC T20.
Champions in 2012 & 2016: West Indies
The West Indies hope that co-hosting the tournament will assist them become the initial team to seize 3 titles after winning it under their now-renowned captain Daren Sammy in 2012 & 2016.
The men in Maroon will depend on their trio of spinners to make the largest difference for the co-hosts. Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, and Roston Chase will be on the lookout to take on the mantle from Sunil Narine, who took 3 wickets during the 2016 final.
A delayed injury to prior captain Jason Holder has led to the selection of left-arm seamer Obed McCoy.
The final player standing from both T20 WC successes is batting high-flyer Andre Russell, who comes into the tournament on the back of a brilliant title-winning run with KKR in the 2024 IPL.
The West Indies will be on the lookout to throw their 6-placed ranking out in the ocean and reach the summit in Barbados.
Champions in 2009: Pakistan
On their best day, Pakistan can instill fear into any competitor.
Guided by Babar Azam, both in batting prowess and as captain, and Shaheen Shah Afridi with the ball, Pakistan can’t be taken out as possible successors despite their seventh position in the ICC T20 squad ranking
Their sole title came in 2009 when they defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in England. Pakistan lost the earlier final in 2007 to India and the last one in 2022
The extensiveness of Pakistan’s talent will be tested, but Saim Ayub is guaranteeing a fine foil for Babar at the top.
Fakhar Zaman has presented flashes of his power hitting in the center order that also includes Babar’s prior prolific opening partner Mohammed Rizwan.
The return of Mohammad Amir stays a deadly threat with his left-arm seam and will pray to form a fierce pace attack with Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Afridi.
It’s the spin division that Pakistan must thrive. Imad Wasim will pray to copy his latest domestic form on the international stage beside Shadab Khan, dependable all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed, and the new leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed.
Babar and his team may not be the outright favorites, but don’t be crazy to count them out as competition.
