Just a few days ahead of the opening game of the T20 World Cup 2024 co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America, the former Australian skipper Michael Clarke talked about why India are favourites and the one thing that could go wrong for Rohit Sharma’s men.
Speaking in a podcast for ESPN Australia, Clarke highlighted the fact that the Indian team’s preparations ahead of the World Cup has been spot-on and reckons that the conditions in the Caribbean might be a little different to that in the sub-continent but also share some similarities as well which would favour the Indian team.
“I mentioned it earlier, I think if you look at the favourites for this World Cup, it’s got to be India just because of the amount of cricket they’ve played. Their preparation is outstanding. The conditions are different in the Caribbean and America compared to India, but there are a lot of similarities, so their players should be used to that,” he said.
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Speaking on the Indian squad, Clarke reckons that the Indian team have taken a massive call by option for four spinners in their squad. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal make up the spin quartet and it is yet to be seen how Rohit Sharma plans on utilising them for the tournament.
Clarke commented, “The other thing as well, I think India’s taken a risk with the squad they’ve picked, heavily relying on spin. It’s very different to Australia, but in conditions that I’ve experienced in the Caribbean, I think spin bowling and how you play spin is going to be a huge part of your success. So, you know, India is the biggest threat for me in regards to who’s going to win this World Cup”.
Speaking on the preparations ahead of the tournament, Clarke feels that due to no members of the Indian squad being present for the final, it could prove to be a massive boost for the side having all their members together from day 1 of training.
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Meanwhile, Australia who don’t have members like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Travis Head in the squad yet, had to make do without the big guns in their warm-up games.
“When you talk about preparation, it’s interesting because there were three Australians in the IPL final and not one of the 15-member India squad in the final, but it could end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise. They’ve got the whole team together in New York early,” he concluded.
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