Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke believes that Team India has taken a considerable risk with their spin-reliant squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. Despite this, he considers them the favorites due to their thorough preparations leading up to the tournament.
The ICC T20 World Cup will take place in the West Indies and the USA from June 1 to 29. India will play their only warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
In an interview on ESPN’s Around the Wicket programme, Clarke commented, “I think India has taken a risk with the squad they have picked — heavily reliant on spin, very different from Australia. But in the conditions that I have played in the Caribbean, I think how you play spin is going to be a huge part of whether you succeed or not. India is the biggest threat for me with regards to who is going to win the World Cup.”
He added, “If you look at the favourites for the World Cup, it has got to be India just because of the amount of cricket they have played. Their preparation has been outstanding. Conditions are different from India but there are a lot of similarities so the players would be used to that.”
Leading up to the tournament, India played eight bilateral series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Australia, Afghanistan, England, South Africa, Ireland, and the West Indies, winning seven of them.
They only lost a series against the West Indies 3-2. Additionally, they secured a gold medal in the cricket tournament at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Since their loss to England in the semi-finals of the T20 WC 2022 in Australia, India has played 24 games, winning 18 and losing just six.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. Following this, India will play against tournament co-hosts USA on June 12 and Canada on June 15 to conclude their Group A matches.
India aims to clinch their first T20 World Cup title since winning the inaugural edition in 2007 in South Africa. In the previous edition held in Australia in 2022, India lost to England by 10 wickets in the semi-finals.
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