T20 World Cup 2022: 3 Reasons Why India Are Favorites To Win

Ever since the Indian cricket team won the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 World Cup way back in 2007, they’ve been touted as the team to beat in all the following editions of the tournaments.

Of course, the presence of a certain MS Dhoni in the Indian ranks had a lot to do with that. Since Dhoni was a finisher par excellence and had taken India to many memorable wins in the shortest format of the game all over the world.

Come 2022, there’s no denying the fact that India enter the tournament as the top-billed team. If winning odds at Betway are anything to go by, India have the best odds at 4.00 to lift the coveted trophy.

2022 T20 World Cup Betting Sites

What Makes India Favorites To Win 2022 T20 World Cup?

India’s ICC trophy cabinet is undecorated over the last 9 years or so. They’ve had close shaves in the summit clashes of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy against Pakistan and the inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand in 2021.

While those were under the leadership of Virat Kohli, this time round in 2022, Rohit Sharma will be at the helm for Team India’s victory march in the T20 World Cup.

Here are three things that make India the favorite to win the marquee event:

Recent Form

India have had a brilliant run in T20 internationals in the last couple of years. India’s only low points in international T20s have been their disappointing 2021 T20 World Cup campaign and a lowly series loss in Sri Lanka when a majority of their batters were sidelined to the Covid-19 virus on the tour last year.

Since then India have won back-to-back T20I series against New Zealand, West Indies, and Sri Lanka, drawn a series against South Africa and won against Ireland and England.

India’s win over England was considered highly since they didn’t have a settled opening partner to pair with skipper Rohit in the absence of injured KL Rahul. It was India’s bowling and the performance of all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja that was praiseworthy.

Flexibility In The Batting Department

India’s full-time captain Rohit Sharma carries a cool head on his shoulders and augurs well for the contingent heading into the World Cup. Rohit has reiterated that his team will follow a strategy of batting aggressively from ball one and that’s the expectation from each batter that walks into the crease.

To this end, Rohit hasn’t shied away from experimenting with the multiple options up his sleeve, especially in the batting department. Where Suryakumar Yadav hit a brilliant hundred against England, Deepak Hooda put his hand up by scoring a swashbuckling ton against Ireland.

Shreyas Iyer has shown a level of consistency in white-ball cricket. Hardik and Jadeja have been rock solid as finishers in the back end of the innings.

There’s only one gap India needs to fill and that’s the openers. The ideal partner for Rohit is still out there and till the time KL Rahul is fully fit and achieves some level of form, opportunities have been given to Ishan Kishan, Rituraj Gaikwad, and Rishabh Pant.

This gives plenty of options to the Indian think-tank to try out the best batter that will play with a brand of fearless batting that the team demands at the top of the order.

Yuzvendra Chahal 

The leg spinner has been detrimental to India’s consistent performances in recent times in white ball cricket. Leaving him out of the squad for the T20 World Cup proved costly for Team India at the 2021 edition in UAE.

Chahal was 2022 IPL’s highest wicket-taker with 27 scalps. He along with Jos Buttler ensured the inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals reached all the way to the final. In 2022, Chahal has 15 wickets in 12 T20Is till the end of the England tour with a best of 3/20 and an impressive economy rate of 7.12.

Chahal’s strengths are his varying bowling speeds and subtle variations that tend to bamboozle the opposition batsmen often. He bowls the tough overs for his captain and he is the go-to man whenever the team is in need of wickets. When you see the online cricket betting markets open up for T20 World Cup top bowler, Chahal is your man.

The long boundaries in Australia will aid Chahal and he is likely to provide the extra punch India need in their bowling to bring home the T20 World Cup after 15 years.