India installed favourite for coming cricket’s World Twenty20 Cup

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With the race for the Indian Premier League playoffs heating up many of the international stars have upped their tempo in their bid to book a spot on their national squads for the coming World Twenty20 Cup.

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The tournament takes place in the West Indies and the U.S. in June and each team has to provide their 15 names to the International Cricket Council by May 1.

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But due to the unique arrangements the ICC has given the 20 squads until May 25 to tweak their lineups in the event of injuries and unforeseen circumstances.

As one would expect, India has been installed 2-to-1 favourite to lift the trophy while Australia and defending champion England are listed at 3-to-1. Next are New Zealand and South Africa at 5-to-1 and you could also take a wild fling and drop a toonie on first-timer Canada that has been quoted at 1,000-to-1.

The spotlight, of course, will be on Rohit Sharma’s India, who will be trying to land the trophy and make up for disappointing their billion fans in 2023, when Australia stunned the home team in the final.

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But, for me, it’s still the men clad in yellow that will be the one to beat this time around as well. The marauders from Down Under have the all-round fire power to take home this trophy at the expense of India — again.

In the past few months, under the leadership of Pat Cummins, the Aussies have been on a tear that has seen them fill their mantlepiece with the World Cup trophy and the World Test Championship Cup. By adding the Twenty20 crown to its collection, it will become the first nation to hold all three ICC trophies simultaneously.

Good news for the Aussies is that Travis Head, hero of the World Cup triumph, has gone into the IPL with his guns blazing. He has plundered one century and two half centuries for the Delhi Capitals.

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Also making waves in the IPL is 22-year-old Jake Fraser McGurk with his aggressive brand that could see him crack the Twenty20 lineup. Fraser McGurk opens the batting for Delhi and, if he selected, it would give them a chance to go with a left-hand and right-hand opening combination.

The other opener in contention is David Warner, who will retire from the international scene after this competition, so the selectors will want to accommodate him as well for his services to his country.

Fraser McGurk has hit 55 versus Lucknow and added another quickfire 65 versus Hyderabad. He might just sneak into the Aussie squad as the Rajasthan pair of Glen Maxwell and Cameron Green have failed with the bat and Warner has not been consistent either.

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But the Aussie bowlers will still be a handful with Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Nathan Ellis, as well as spinner Adam Zampa.

Indian selectors have their hands full as so many of the players have excelled in the IPL. But the think-tank will obviously want to give their experienced players instead of the newcomers as they may be overwhelmed by playing in the World Cup.

But they must remember that Mahendra Singh Dhoni led India to the World Twenty20 Cup in 2007 with fresh faces. Three who have made huge impressions in the IPL are Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma and Rajasthan’s Riyan Pirag along with all-rounder Shivam Dube of Mumbai.

Spinner Ravindra Jadeja is a lock for a place and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal of Rajasthan, who has bamboozled the batsmen in the IPL has also staked his place. Last week, Chahal became the first bowler in the history of the competition to reach the mark of 200 wickets.

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Other spinners in contention are Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel who also happens to be an excellent batsman.

Jasprit Bumrah will head the fast bowlers with Arshdeep Singh, but Rajasthan’s Sandeep Sharma — who is back following a back surgery — has put in a claim for a spot. Sharma, an accurate medium pacer, captured five wickets for 18 runs in the win over Mumbai on Saturday.

The inclusion of Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya also is up in the air as he has failed with both bat and ball this season and there are questions about opening batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

Jaiswal roared back to form with a brilliant 104 off 60 deliveries on Saturday against Mumbai, but some experts believe the national squad should open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

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India also has a huge problem when it comes who will stand behind the stumps. India has a glut of six wicketkeepers with hard-hitting Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik and Jitesh Sharma. Pant has returned after sitting on the sidelines for 18 months following a horrific car crash and he hasn’t lost his touch.

They are all deserving of a place but the ball is now in the selectors’ court.

STOINIS A SUPER GIANT

Australian Marcus Stonis booked a spot on the World Cup squad by hammering an unbeaten 124 (six sixes and 13 fours) for Lucknow Super Giants in beating Chennai Super Kings by six wickets on Tuesday. Chennai hoisted 210 for four thanks to a super century by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad who was unbeaten on 108 (three sixes, 12 fours).

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