Who will win the T20 World Cup?

Published on: Sep 23, 2022

The T20 World Cup will pit the greatest players in the shortest format of the game against each other in an attempt to find the best team in the world – and we for one can’t wait.

The competition will be played out across October into November 2022, with host country Australia looking to both put on a brilliant tournament. Who will win the title and be crowned 20-over champions of the world?

The Aussies actually go into the T20 World Cup as the favourites with most betting sites. They head the betting to win only their second T20 World Cup crown. This may be surprising for many as the Aussies have dominated the competitive cricketing scene for years.

Their exploits in the 50-Over Cricket World Cup coupled with their dominance in the Test arena means they are always seen as likely to win a tournament. However, their comfortable win over New Zealand in the 2021 final was their first T20 triumph.

In 2022, they will look to captain Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood to lead them. However, Finch and Maxwell can be as inconsistent as they are explosive, while Smith is hardly an explosive type of player in this format. Balance is vital for the Aussies.

In the 2021 tournament, the Aussies would likely have counted themselves quite lucky that the Kiwis knocked out England in the semi-finals, with the best team at the tournament eliminated in the last-four. Perhaps this became something of a final for New Zealand, who never really got going in the final itself.

The Kiwis are currently the sixth favourites in the betting to go one better than they managed in 2021, with a number of teams having shorter odds. The likes of Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips will be key with the bat for the Kiwis, while Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee are two bowlers that will worry the opposition.

Despite this, we worry for New Zealand. Guptill has not been in the greatest form for some time now, while the likes of Devon Conway, Santner and Williamson are brilliant players, but they are hardly the huge-hitting, explosive players that T20 cricket has become synonymous with.

Just behind the Aussies in the betting are both India and England. India will fancy their chances here with their superb pace attack and adept spinners likely to enjoy the dry and hot conditions in Australia.

The pressure will be on their main strike players with the bat, with KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya all likely to feature heavily if India are to make it to the final. However, will the weight of expectation once again sit too heavily on India?

For England, they will want to prove they are the best. Fabled as having one of the best mixes of wicket-taking bowlers and run-scoring batsmen, the English arrive in Australia in good form. The return of Alex Hales to the fold is a major boost for the nation, although they are without both Jonny Bairstow (injury) and Jason Roy (loss of form). How will this impact their chances?

Away from the three favourites, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies and Sri Lanka head the betting and claims can be made for each of them in this unpredictable format.

Of these sides, we predict the most likely to clinch an upset is the West Indies. With two T20 World Cup crowns in 2012 and 2016 to their name, the side will fancy themselves. They have so often proved to be a superb tournament team.

Of course, it is not enough to simply be a side that often plays well at a tournament, as they need to really excel with both bat and ball regularly. The Windies will have to prove themselves in the preliminary rounds first as they take on Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe in Group B. If they can make it out of the group and into the Super 12 stage, then who knows where they could go.

What makes the T20 World Cup so entertaining is the fact that any side could win the competition. All it takes is a few poor games from the bigger sides and they will be eliminated as there are only two groups in the Super 12, with eight teams getting eliminated

However, this incorporates Australia, India, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa all struggling. We will likely see one of these six sides lifting the trophy at the end of the tournament though, with these nations some way above the rest of the field.