Former India captain Sourav Ganguly picked India and Australia as the two best teams of the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. The world event will begin on June 2 and many believe it is likely to be one of the most unpredictable ICC events in recent times, mainly due to the unknown nature of the surfaces on offer in the United States and the number of teams participating in this edition.
Ganguly, however, said India and Australia – the finalists of last year’s ODI World Cup – will be the teams to beat. He expected India and Australia to dominate the tournament as they did in the 50-over World Cup last year.
“India and Australia the two best teams of the tournament. I’m sure they will do the same thing in the USA and the West Indies,” Ganguly said.
The event is split up into four groups consisting of five teams, with the top two sides from each group then progressing to the Super Eight phase of the tournament ahead of the knockout semi-finals and final.
Australia are in Group B with defending champions England, Namibia, Scotland and Oman. India, on the other hand, find themselves in Group A with co-hosts USA, arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland and Canada.
India play their group stage matches in the USA, opening their campaign against Ireland on June 5. Super Eight onwards the tournament will be held in the Caribbean countries.
On the Indian squad, Ganguly said: “It’s a fabulous squad, they are all match winners. All 15 are good enough to be selected, I’m sure Rohit (Sharma) and Rahul (Dravid) will pick the best.”
Rinku Singh did not find a place in the 15-member Indian side. Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar said it was one of the toughest calls that the committee had to make.
Ganguly feels the 26-year-old, who boasts of a 176-plus strike rate in 15 T20Is and plays the role of a finisher for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, may have missed out as India wanted to go with an “extra spinner” keeping in mind the spinning tracks in the West Indies.
“It’s West Indies. The wickets may be slow and assist spin so they (selectors) wanted to go with another spinner. Maybe because of that Rinku didn’t get an opportunity but it’s just the beginning for Rinku,” Ganguly said.
