India hot favourites to defend a T20 World Cup and win one at home

Group fixtures

vs USA in Mumbai, February 7

vs Namibia in Delhi, February 12

vs Pakistan in Colombo, February 15

vs Netherlands in Ahmedabad, February 18

Big picture: India have enviable quality and depth

No team has ever been such strong favourites to win a T20 World Cup. No team has ever successfully defended their crown or won at home. It will need a miracle to deny India both those achievements.

Such is the quality and depth of the T20 talent in India that this team is only an improvement on the one that ran an unbeaten campaign in a variety of conditions in the USA and the West Indies two years ago. This T20 empire of a team last lost a series well before that T20 World Cup, in August 2023. Since the start of the last World Cup, India hold a win-loss ratio of 6.5 in this famously fickle format.

To that World Cup group India have added the firepower of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma, the mysteryspin of Varun Chakravarthy, the lower-order hitting plus hard lengths of Harshit Rana and an extra layer of intent. They are a team that can't find room for Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

However, this is T20 and the World Cup is not an easy format. On top of that, India have drawn the group of death in the Super Eights, which follows a largely inconsequential first round. So basically to win the World Cup, India have to beat at least two out of possibly Australia, South Africa and West Indies in three night games at three different venues in a week. And then win the two knockouts in the next week.

Anything can happen on a dewy night. Lose the toss, one out of Jasprit Bumrah and Varun has an off day, and you never know. The opponents will be telling themselves exactly that to remain hopeful of an upset.

Recent form

In conditions similar to the ones we are likely to see in the World Cup, India have recently beaten New Zealand 4-1 and South Africa 3-1. Three of those seven wins have come despite losing the toss.

Players to watch: Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy

No player from Full Member teams comes close to the 88 sixes Abhishek Sharma has hit between the World Cups. Shai Hope is next with 50. Abhishek goes into his first World Cup as the most exciting batter on display.

Varun Chakravarthy has been the bowling equivalent of Abhishek, topping the charts for Full Members with 57 wickets between the World Cups at 7.42 an over. He has taken a wicket every 11.2 balls, which makes it two per match, a dream record. This is not Varun's first World Cup, but after a rather forgettable first one in 2021, he will want to leave a decisive imprint on this one.

Last hurrah?

India's captain Suryakumar Yadav will be 37 or 38 by the time the next World Cup rolls in. Given the amount of hitting talent available in the country, there is every chance they will start building up to the next one with a replacement for Suryakumar as soon as this one ends. Before the likes of Abhishek came around, Suryakumar was India's original T20 specialist. If all goes according to the seedings, Suryakumar will go down as the first captain to successfully defend a World Cup, a win-loss ratio of over 5 as captain and his place secured in the T20I hall of fame. If it doesn't, though, one title as a player and a failure to win the World Cup with such a strong unit will not look quite as good.

Best XI

1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson/Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Harshit Rana/ Arshdeep Singh, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Rest of the squad: Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. Either of them could be an option against a side dominated by left-hand batters

Poll question

How many matches will India lose in the T20 World Cup?