The ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup 2024 – cricket’s most prestigious tournament – has already advanced to the Super Eights stage, taking place in the United States and the West Indies.
The 20-team tournament has been condensed to eight teams, resulting in significant surprises and eliminations throughout the group rounds.
The unbeaten gang of India, Australia, West Indies, and South Africa are the sole teams who have advanced to the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup while avoiding defeat. But who among them is the favourite to claim the T20 World Cup, and what factors have led us to this point?
T20 WC Qualifying Teams
The teams that have qualified for the next stage are the top two teams from each of the original four groups. Notably, Pakistan and New Zealand were not eligible for the Super 8 after failing to collect enough qualifying points.
- India (Winners of Group A)
- Australia (Winners of Group B)
- West Indies (Winners of Group C)
- South Africa (Winners of Group D)
- USA (Runners-up in Group A)
- England (Runners-up in Group B)
- Afghanistan (Runners-up in Group C)
- Bangladesh (Runners-up in Group D)
India: The Favourites to Win the T20 World Cup 2024
Rohit Sharma’s team will be eager to compensate for the disappointment of losing the 2023 Cricket World Cup final to Australia on their own turf. They will rely on their players to carry their uber-impressive performance from the just concluded Indian Premier League into the final stages of this competition.
Despite failing to dominate in their matches completely, we cannot ignore the fact that India easily advanced through the group stage unbeaten and solidified their position as one of the top contenders to win the event. They began by defeating Ireland convincingly with eight wickets. Subsequently, they saw a remarkable turnaround in their second match against their main rivals, Pakistan, ultimately emerging triumphant by a margin of six runs. They successfully overcame an initial setback in their pursuit to defeat the USA by seven wickets.
Although talismanic player Virat Kohli has not performed to the expected standards, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav performed amazingly on the notorious New York surface. However, more notably, a consistent factor in all three triumphs was the outstanding performance of their bowling attack, spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 World Cup Outright Winner Betting Odds
Team | Odds to Win the T20 World Cup | Odds to Reach the Final |
India | 7/4 | 8/11 |
Australia | 3/1 | 1/1 |
England | 9/2 | 9/4 |
West Indies | 11/2 | 5/2 |
South Africa | 11/2 | 9/4 |
India has been the top team in the T20 team rankings and the bookmakers’ betting odds throughout the tournament whenever visiting legal online gambling sites from Gambling.com. Thus far, the tournament has been unexpected, with the matches against the USA and Canada—originally expected to be landslide victories—proving more challenging than anticipated. Additionally, their encounter with Pakistan was too close for comfort.
That said, India’s biggest challenge has yet to come, with potential fixtures involving Australia, England, West Indies, and South Africa, all of whom seriously threaten Men in Blue’s World Cup run.
India’s Biggest T20 World Cup Threat’s
Australia
If Australia can win the T20 Global Cup and unify the global crowns, they have the potential to establish themselves as the unrivalled champions of cricket. The Aussies became victorious in the World Test Championship in 2023 by defeating India at the Oval in England. They then successfully defended the Ashes on English territory and concluded their remarkable year by defeating India in Ahmedabad to claim the title of 50-over champions.
Securing victories in all three formats of cricket, namely Test, ODI, and T20, would represent an extraordinary transformation for a team that suffered a severe reputational blow in 2018 due to the sandpaper ball-tampering scandal.
England
England’s attempt to defend their T20 trophy appeared to be on track for a similarly catastrophic outcome as their 50-over crown did in the previous year. After their initial loss to Scotland, they suffered a 36-run setback against Australia, leaving them hopeful that the weather would be favourable for their last two crucial matches against Oman and Namibia. A tense and closely fought competition characterised the last portion of the game, but Jos Buttler’s team managed to secure victory narrowly.
The memory of Carlos Brathwaite’s outstanding performance in the final over of the 2016 match continues to trouble the English team as they prepare to face the West Indies. Both teams have their sights set on winning a record-breaking third T20 title. Additionally, South Africa, who are also competing in Group 2, should not be underestimated.
South Africa
The Proteas’ seam attack is spearheaded by the fully recovered Anrich Nortje, who has the most impressive economy rate (5.02) among all bowlers in T20 World Cup history. However, they must overcome their unfortunate streak of never advancing beyond the semifinal stage in any significant International Cricket Council (ICC) competition.
However, the West Indies team cannot be underestimated. So far in this edition, they have not faced a significant challenge since they advanced from a group that included Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and a very underperforming New Zealand.