Lovers of Twenty20 cricket are preparing for this summer’s T20 World Cup. The seventh instalment of the competition, which continues to grow in popularity, will be played between October and November.
16 teams make up the running order with followers set to enjoy a total of 45 games crammed into just a few weeks. India will be the host nation and a check on the betting at mytoposportsbooks.com suggests local fans will have plenty to cheer about with bookies picking India as favourites.
India step in to cover
The T20 World Cup was originally scheduled to be played in Australia last year but, like most sports including Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics, it had to be postponed. The coronavirus emergency and resulting lockdowns put much of the sporting fixtures on ice and T20 cricket didn’t escape that.
A host nation was needed to stage the rearranged World Cup when Australia closed its borders and many believed England would again step up to the mark, but the decision went to India. All players are now excited to finally get started. However, it wasn’t a cut and dry decision, with a safety net put in place to combat any health problems in India. With the number of coronavirus cases and deaths growing every day the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed UAE would be their contingency plan.
Sports fans will keep a close eye on developments there. If India is able to host the T20 World Cup later this year they would require a massive drop in the COVID-19 cases and, even then, the play may still go behind closed doors.
Competitive renewal
Returning to the competition itself, ignoring the off-field problems, for the time being, cricket fans are expecting another competitive renewal of the World Cup. Which nation will come out on top? A strong case could be made for five teams but we can follow the clues of the current betting.
Traders at all respected online bookmakers have placed India at the head of their outright betting market, and that shouldn’t change even if the action moves to UAE. They have played in six competitions between 2007 and 2016 but have managed outright victory only once. India was crowned T20 World Cup winners in 2007, getting off to the perfect start. But they have been unable to replicate that success.
The 2007 champions beat Pakistan in the Johannesburg final, edging their opponents by five runs to make history. Since then, India have made the final only once, losing to Sri Lanka in 2014 by four wickets.
England the main danger
If India doesn’t win the T20 World Cup, then the money men believe England will take the crown. They rank as the main danger to India’s dominance and are second-favourites in the outright betting market. There isn’t much between the two nations and, if they were to meet in the final or during the knockout stages of the World Cup, it would be plain to see why.
England played host to the T20 World Cup back in 2009 but was forced to watch on as mere spectators as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the London final. However, England was able to right the wrongs of that year when becoming champions a year later.
They did it in style, bagging the 2010 T20 World Cup by a seven wickets win over rivals Australia in the Bridgetown final. England did go close to the double but was beaten by West Indies by four wickets in 2016, which was the last renewal of this competition.
Stick with the stats
One of the most popular ways to predict the winner of this World Cup is to stick with the stats and take the hints offered by previous years. If going with the most successful team in the competition, you’d be supporting West Indies, who are the only nation to win this trophy more than once. West Indies were crowned champions of the world first in 2012 and then for a second time in 2016.
