T20 World Cup: India not favourites to lift trophy, believes former selector Saba Karim

T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma-led India are not the favourites to lift the T20 World Cup, believes former selector Saba Karim. He reasons himself out and pegs Australia to lift the trophy.

Former India selector Saba Karim does not think that India are the favourites to lift the trophy, going into the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup. The Rohit Sharma-led men are currently at the top of the ICC rankings, but Karim believes that defending champions Australia are the clear favourites.

"I think they remain a formidable side and are the favourites. More so because they are playing on Australian soil and the kind of changes, they have brought into the team, reflects that they are in sync with what is required to win such tournaments in Australia," Saba Karim said on Sports 18 channel.

Australia were the unlikely champions of the T20 World Cup in UAE beating all odds and poor form leading the tournament. The Aaron Finch side have made just one change to their team, adding Tim David in place of Mitchell Swepson. Speaking about the same, Karim said that Australia have worked on making very strong combinations, which could eventually turn out to be the reason behind them winning the World Cup.

"Big ground, so you need some more power hitters, so they bulk up that kind of portion in the side. So, they have Tim David and Glen Maxwell. For instance, in this team, you don't have Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, both of them very high in terms of power hitting. So, this kind of combination makes them a very strong side to retain the T20 World Cup again," Karim said.

India are currently tied 1-1 with Australia in the three-match series. Next they will face Temba Bavuma's South Africa in T20I and ODI series, before flying out to Australia for their World Cup preparations.