As all teams ramp up preparations for T20 World Cup 2024, former England off-break spinner Graeme Swann unveiled his predictions for strong sides which could sail through the global tournament’s semi-finals’ phase, however, Pakistan was not on his list of favourite four teams.
Swann did not include Pakistan in his top four teams for the highly anticipated T20 global tournament, which is just over a week away from kicking off in the USA and the West Indies.
Since the inception of the tournament, 20 sides will be featuring for the first time in the tournament's history.
Swann thinks that the four teams making their way into the final four will be England, India, the West Indies, and, "unfortunately," England's arch-rival Australia.
He chose the West Indies ahead of the likes of Pakistan, South Africa, and New Zealand."The top four teams I would go for are India and England, and then Australia, unfortunately, and then the West Indies," Swann told ANI.
Remember, England are the defending champions and will again take to the field to defend their title after their ODI World Cup campaign took a downturn last year.
They failed to progress to the knockout stages and finished in seventh place with just six points from nine games. However, Swann remains optimistic about England's chances of defending their title in the upcoming edition.
The former spinner believes that although bearing the burden of defending champions is challenging, England boasts a strong squad capable of meeting the challenge.
"I hope so. Yeah, the last time they won, they played pretty good cricket in Australia. It is a different country to go to, the USA and the West Indies. Different forms of cricket. The pitches are nowhere near as hard and bouncy. So I hope they do well. Defending champions is sometimes a hard tag to carry. Looking at the team, I think they are very strong," Swann added.
The tournament will begin on June 1, with the United States and Canada playing the opener.
England's T20 World Cup defence will begin against Scotland on June 4 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. They will then play group matches against Australia, Oman, and Namibia in Barbados and Antigua before the Super 8s and knockouts.
Pakistan's coach Fahim Gul confirms that Iqbal was suffering from fever due to which he could not perform up to mark
Pakistan squad's skipper faces bashing from veteran Ahmed Shehzad over performance in World Cup matches
"It’s your right to rebuke but do not body shame him," says Shahzad
"I know I don't have many years of football left. It’s a gift to play play year after year, after 35," says Al Nassr...
