West Indies: They can surprise the world again

Carlos Brathwaite’s four consecutive sixes in the final over off Ben Stokes during the previous T20 World Cup final in 2016 that snatched a dream win from England’s hands still reverberates for every cricket fan. This kind of intensity in their game makes me pick the West Indies as favourites for this edition. My belief in them is further strengthened when you consider the defending champions are the only team to win this event twice. More so the Windies are known to have one of the most fearsome T20 sides in the world. Most of their players in the current squad regularly play the shortest version across the world in different leagues and are well acclimatised with this format of cricket.

Skipper Kieron Pollard is known for his power-packed knocks, followed by ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, who on his day can turn a match in his favour. The 42-year-old might not have had a good run recently, but a player of his calibre just needs one good knock to find his form. There are also the highly-rated keeperbatsman Nicholas Pooran, aggressive hitters Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmeyer, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo. The bowling has been strengthened with Ravi Rampaul, who returns to the team after a good show in the Caribbean Premier League.

The unpredictability of this format makes it difficult to choose between the top teams — and two to three good performances can swing the match away.