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Who will win the T20 World Cup 2021? Full team-by-team guide, how to watch, odds and how England could perform

England are among the favourites despite missing Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, while Virat Kohli is hoping to lead India to the trophy in his last T20 World Cup as captain

It has been five years since the misery etched on Ben Stokes‘ face brought the curtain down on the last Twenty20 World Cup.

England are bidding to put that crushing defeat to the West Indies in the 2016 final behind them and can become the first team to hold both the 50-over World Cup and the T20 version simultaneously.

Eoin Morgan’s side got off to a dream start with revenge against the Windies, who have made a poor start to their title defence.

T20 World Cup format

Round 1 is now over and while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka qualified for the Super 12s as expected, there were two major shocks as Scotland reached the knockouts and Namibia’s fairytale run continued in their first ever World Cup.

The top two teams from the preliminary Round 1 group stage have progressed and they will now join the top eight ranked sides in the world. The winner of Group A, Sri Lanka, and the runners-up from Group B, Bangladesh, have joined Group 1, which is made up of England, Australia, South Africa and West Indies.

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The winners of Group B, Scotland, and the runners-up of Group A, Namibia will plain Group 2, where they will meet Afghanistan, India, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Super 12s

Group 1

  • Australia
  • England
  • South Africa
  • West Indies
  • Sri Lanka
  • Bangladesh

Group 2

  • Afghanistan
  • India
  • New Zealand
  • Pakistan
  • Scotland
  • Namibia

When every team in the Super 12s has played one another, the top two sides from each group will go through to the semi-finals. The final then takes place on 14 November.

Here’s i‘s guide to every team at the tournament.

Group A

Ireland

Ireland have changed the guard since the last World Cup, bringing in young prospects like Ben White, Josh Little and Curtis Campher, the latter becoming the first Ireland player to take a T20I hat-trick in their opener against Netherlands. However, defeats to Sri Lanka and Namibia have seen them exit at the first round.

Ireland's Curtis Campher (R) celebrates after taking the wicket of Netherland's Scott Edwards during the ICC mens Twenty20 World Cup cricket match between Ireland and Netherlands at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on October 18, 2021. (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP) (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)
Campher took four wickets in four balls against the Netherlands (Photo: AFP/Getty)
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Namibia

The lowest-ranked team in the competition, they made it all the way to the finals after cruising through the Africa Regionals and then the qualifiers and stunned Ireland by eight wickets to ensure their miraculous run will continue. Former South Africa international David Wiese is Namibia’s most recognisable face, while they are coached by Albie Morkel – brother of Morne – and Pierre de Bruyn. Gerhard Erasmus is likely to be their key batsman.

Netherlands

Netherlands won the qualifying tournament in 2019 to ensure they returned to the UAE but there was no send off for the legendary Ryan ten Doeschate, who began with a golden duck against Ireland and now bows out of all forms of cricket at the age of 41.

Roelof van der Merwe also added to their experience, though he only gained a Dutch passport in 2015 having previously featured for South Africa.

Sri Lanka

No team in history has won more T20 World Cup matches than Sri Lanka but they have suffered a considerable fall from grace since their 2014 triumph, paying the price for slipping down to 10th in the world rankings and thus finding themselves in unlikely company in Round 1.

Losing Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, and Tillakaratne Dilshan in that period has made way for a future generation of stars including the big-hitting Chamika Karunaratne, the world’s second best bowler in this format Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka, who was man of the series against South Africa.

How to watch the T20 World Cup

  • Dates: 17 October – 14 November
  • Where: Oman and UAE
  • TV channel: Sky Sports Cricket
  • Live stream: Sky Go app or via NOW TV‘s Sky Sports day passes, which cost £9.99
  • Radio: BBC Test Match Special and 5 Live Sports Extra

Group B

Oman

Oman came into the World Cup hoping to raise the country’s cricketing profile and while they didn’t make it through, they won their opener in style with a six from Jatinder Singh. Zeeshan Maqsood also equalled a Daniel Vettori record by taking four T20 World Cup wickets in a single match as captain as they beat Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets. While Bangladesh and Scotland subsequently offered a reality check, it has still been a momentous tournament for the co-hosts.

Scotland

Scotland’s fourth World Cup appearance began with Chris Greaves starring with both and ball against Bangladesh and they followed that up with wins over Papua New Guinea and Oman. Greaves, a former Amazon delivery driver scored 45 and took two wickets in just his second T20I as he was hailed by captain Kyle Coetzer, formerly of Northants and Durham. Mark Watt is another fringe player who has impressed so far.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s batting continues to hinder them but they made light work of the first round after an initial upset against Scotland. They won nine T20s this year and only South Africa were on a better run going into the World Cup.

Papua New Guinea

It was an extraordinary story which has led Papua New Guinea to the World Cup, though that is counter-balanced by a reality check of more than a dozen successive defeats. Their fielding is their strongest point but they are still not far behind Scotland in the world rankings.

Group 1

Australia

Just a couple of years ago, Australia might well have seen this as their chance to win a maiden T20 World Cup – particularly as it was supposed to be a home tournament. There has since been a little uncertainty as to the strength of squad they would take especially after an under-strength side lost a series in Bangaldesh, but their greatest hope lies in their top order featuring captain Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and David Warner.

Even so, the fact Sunrisers Hyderabad axed Warner as captain and benched him for the first five matches of the Indian Premier League season is not a tremendous advert for his current standing in the shorter format, unlike Glenn Maxwell who shone in the IPL. Australia also have plenty of pace in their bowling attack thanks to the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

England

Stokes and Jofra Archer are two huge misses and Eoin Morgan’s T20 form will also be a major concern. Tom Curran has been called up to replace brother Sam, who has a back problem.

CARDIFF, WALES - JUNE 24: England captain Eoin Morgan is interviewed after the 2nd T20 International match between England and Sri Lanka at Sophia Gardens on June 24, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Morgan can become the first England captain to win the World Cup in two formats (Photo: Getty)

England have some of the best depth when it comes to batting. Though Dawid Malan is the world number one T20 batsman, he has been struggling for form and is far from guaranteed to keep his place throughout. Chris Silverwood has opted for two spinners with Adil Rashid leading the bowling attack alongside Moeen Ali, who will be focusing on the World Cup alone after retiring from Test cricket earlier this summer. T20 specialist Tymal Mills also makes a long-awaited return.

South Africa

An unfortunate reputation for failing to get over the line has hindered South Africa – they have twice fallen at the semi-finals – but there are reasons for optimism, not least the variety of Tabraiz Shamsi and Kagiso Rabada. However, the Proteas were rocked by Quinton de Kock’s withdrawal on the morning of their second match against West Indies after refusing to take the knee – it’s unclear whether he’ll play any part in the rest of the tournament.

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West Indies

The holders, who also won the competition in 2012, have made some big calls by selecting Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell and Jason Holder as reserves and returning to veteran Chris Gayle, who has hit just one half-century all year and whose selection has been questioned back home.

Ravi Rampaul is back in the squad but there is no place for Carlos Brathwaite, who hit four sixes off the last four balls in the 2016 final.

Group 2

Afghanistan

There was some contention about whether they would be at this World Cup following the Taliban’s takeover of the country and the restrictions many female cricketers find themselves under – if the new government were to have formally banned the women’s national team, the men’s side would have been in contravention of ICC regulations and could have been banned from major competitions.

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Afghanistan do boast the No 1 ranked all-rounder in the world in Mohammad Nabi (also to be found at Northamptonshire and London Spirit), but the real weight of expectation will fall on former national captain Rashid Kha who has excelled on the UAE’s wickets, who stepped down in September citing the selectors’ failure to consult him on the squad for the World Cup.

India

India are the favourites and begin against rivals Pakistan – to whom they have never lost at an ICC tournament – as they go in the hunt for a first World Cup since 2007.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 31, 2016 India's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the World T20 cricket tournament semi-final match between India and West Indies at The Wankhede Cricket Stadium in Mumbai. - Five years after losing a heart-stopping T20 World Cup final to the West Indies, Eoin Morgan's England start as narrow favourites in their bid to become double world champions despite the absence of Ben Stokes. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP) (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)
Kohli will be replaced as captain by Sharma after the World Cup (Photo: AFP/Getty)

In search of a finger spinner, Virat Kohli has turned to Ravi Ashwin with MS Dhoni in tow as mentor. Kohli remains the format’s all-time leading run scorer and is in decent form, averaging 46.2 over the series against England, but he is stepping down as captain after the tournament nonetheless, just as he did from Royal Challengers Bangalore at the conclusion of this season’s IPL.

New Zealand

The Black Caps have the chance to avenge their controversial defeat to England by boundary count-back in the 2019 World Cup. Devon Conway only continues to improve and he will be one of the players to watch alongside Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill, the more established twin pins of New Zealand’s top order.

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Tim Southee is their most prolific active T20 bowler with 314 wickets, followed by Trent Boult (292). New Zealand may have taken their eye off the shorter format in their route to becoming world Test champions and they were edged 3-2 in their more recent T20 series against Bangladesh, though they overcame Australia by the same scoreline at home in the spring.

Pakistan

It was a disappointing summer for Pakistan going into the tournament, with New Zealand and England both cancelling tours to the country, but they have since overcome the West Indies (admittedly two T20s of the series ended in no result) and have looked like the team to beat in the early stages of the World Cup.

Captained by Babar Azam, Pakistan have generally transitioned to a much younger set-up – with the notable exceptions of Shoaib Malik, 39, who is playing in his last major tournament, and Mohammad Hafeez, 41.

Odds to win T20 World Cup

  • Pakistan 23-10
  • India 11-4
  • England 3-1
  • Australia 13-2
  • South Africa 12-1
  • New Zealand 12-1
  • Afghanistan 30-1
  • Sri Lanka 35-1
  • West Indies 50-1
  • Bangladesh 100-1
  • Scotland 500-1
  • Namibia 1000-1

Odds via Betfair and correct on 27 October

i predicts: India are likely to benefit from the conditions in the UAE and Oman, though it is a surprise their wrist spinners have fallen by the wayside. They started as favourites but have since been overtaken by Pakistan.

Australia’s preparations haven’t been ideal and their bowling attack arguably lacks finishers and West Indies have played it a little safe, which could leave England best-placed to put in a challenge. Their build-up has been rocked too by uncertainty over the Ashes but there are only five players in the camp who are heading Down Under once the tournament wraps up.

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