T20 World Cup: "My No.1 team at this moment is West Indies and India is No.2" - Saba Karim

Saba Karim has picked the West Indies as the favorites for the upcoming T20 World Cup, slightly ahead of Team India.

The ICC recently announced the dates for this year's T20 World Cup, to be staged in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14. The tournament had to be moved out of India due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨ICC have confirmed that the 2021 T20 World Cup will be held in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14 🏆🇦🇪🇴🇲The games will be played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Muscat 🏏#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/qznc2unhRo

— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) June 29, 2021

During a discussion on India News, Saba Karim named West Indies and India as the front-runners for the T20 World Cup, with the defending champions having a slight edge. He said:

"My No.1 team at this moment is West Indies and India is No.2. The West Indies team has plenty of match-winners, power-hitters who can hit sixes. India has both youth and experience, so they have a good balance."

By dusting off South Africa the West Indies have sent out a message to everyone on why, and how, they will be such a force at the #icct20worldcup. They pick power hitters all the way down to no 9 and just hit more 6s. 15 in 15 overs compared to SA's 5 in 20 overs.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 27, 2021

The former India wicket-keeper also considers England to be one of the title contenders at the T20 World Cup. Karim elaborated:

"But one team about whom we need to necessarily talk about is England. They have brought a different dimension to white-ball cricket and their team is also looking balanced to me. So, they will definitely be strong contenders in the T20 World Cup."

West Indies are the only team to have won the T20 World Cup twice and should be strong favorites this time around as well. England, on the other hand, will be keen to become the first team to hold the ODI and T20 World Cups at the same time.

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Reetinder Sodhi feels the T20 World Cup could see an India-New Zealand final

Reetinder Sodhi reckons the T20 World Cup could see an encore of the WTC final

Reetinder Singh Sodhi opined that the New Zealand team cannot be ruled out. He explained:

"I feel you cannot take New Zealand lightly. They have fantastic players, utility players and if we talk about all-rounders, New Zealand is filled with all-rounders. The way they won the WTC final, they showed that this team has the might."

The former India all-rounder signed off by predicting a repeat of the World Test Championship (WTC) final in the T20 World Cup title decider.

"If we talk about T20 cricket, their planning is very good. They play the middle overs (8-14) very well. They have the bowling as well. So I feel it could be an India-New Zealand final."

India have suffered defeats in both matches they have played against New Zealand in T20 World Cups. They are also the only team against whom the Men in Blue have an inferior overall T20I record, having lost eight and won six out of the 16 encounters the two sides have played.