Just a day after West Indies legend Brian Lara claimed that India were the favourites for the 2016 ICC World T20, India’s very own batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar said that Dhoni’s men have a “very good chance” to win the trophy, IBN Live reports.
The sixth edition of the World T20 will be held in India from March 8 to April 3 and Lara had handed the host nation the ‘favourites’ tag as he felt that the Indian players would be well acquainted with the pitches and conditions. Tendulkar acknowledged the fact that home advantage will be a very important factor but is more confident about India’s chances due to the team setup, one which he described as a “formidable combination.”
"We have a very good chance. In T20I, I think the team is well balanced with senior members in the squad, then also youngsters and guys who been around for a while and they all as a package have performed really well," the Master Blaster said.
Going into specifics, Tendulkar expressed his delight at how Jasprit Bumrah, who incidentally shot to fame with his performances in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, which has Tendulkar as one of its mentors, had bowled in Australia after earning a late call-up. The 42-year-old also welcomed the addition of senior players like Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh to the squad and feels India have the right mix to make good progress in the tournament.
"You see just the way Bumrah (Jasprit) bowled in Australia was superb and then nice to have someone like Ashish Nehra back, Yuvi back in the squad, Harbhajan is there. All these guys. It's a formidable combination. I would definitely want India to go all the way," he said.
Talking about India's unprecedented success in the recently concluded 3-match T20 series against Australia, where India whitewashed the reigning ODI World Champions in their own backyard, Tendulkar said that India truly deserved the victory. He also added how he had just managed to get back home in time to see Suresh Raina hit the winning runs in the third and final match of the series.
"The way we played T20 I think fabulous cricket and I actually ended up watching the last ball (of the final T20). I was out somewhere and had just got back, my wife and son were watching. They called me and said last ball to go and two runs to win. I said there is no doubt we are scoring those two runs and Raina hit that brilliant shot over point," said Tendulkar.
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