India are favourites to win the T20 World Cup, but it won’t be a cakewalk: Michael Atherton

Michael Atherton, the former England skipper, reckons that India are the favourites to win the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup. Atherton’s comments came after the Men in Blue beat Eoin Morgan and Co by 3-2 in the five-match T20I series. In the final T20I on Saturday, March 20, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India won by 36 runs.

Atherton feels that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has helped Indian cricket form depth in their setup. As per the veteran, the fact that India would be playing in home conditions also makes them firm favourites to win the championship.

India are the team to beat: Michael Atherton

“I think so. They probably have more strength in depth because of the IPL and the T20 cricket they play and the fact they have just beaten England without probably three main bowlers. Put all those things together, and the fact they are playing at home, then they are the team to beat,” Atherton told Sky Sports.

“It won’t be a cakewalk England are a very good side and West Indies and other sides are dangerous as well but if you priced it up, you would say India are favourites,” he stated.

In the last match, which also happened to be a decider, India put on 224 on the board after being sent to bat first. Kohli’s unbeaten 80 coupled with Rohit Sharma’s 64 took the hosts to the formidable total.

While defending the score, Bhuvneshwar Kumar rose to the occasion with figures of 4-0-15-2. He also went on to become the Player of the Match. Shardul Thakur also impressed as he churned out three wickets.

Kohli was over the moon after India completed the triumph. The 32-year-old also sounded confident about India’s batting depth. The Delhi-born was also of the opinion that India were able to stave off the dew factor pretty efficiently.

“It was a complete game for us. Totally outplayed the opposition. Even with so much dew coming in, like last game we’ve defended the total again. Today was a complete game. Despite Rishabh and Iyer not getting a chance we put on 225. Testimony to our batting depth,” Kohli was quoted as saying.