Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir named two teams, which are likely to feature in the final of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
The 2021 World T20 will be played in the October-November window in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after it was shifted from India because of the scare of the COVID-19 situation in the country.
12 teams will participate in the tournament, with six teams divided into two groups. Eight of the 12 teams have already qualified with the remaining four teams will make the cut-off through the ICC World Cup Qualifiers stage, which will be held in Oman.
India is placed alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand and two more teams, who will join them soon in Group 2, while defending champions West Indies will play England, South Africa, Australia and two other teams that will enter through the qualifiers in Group 1.
South Africa and Australia will kick off in the first game of the Super 12 on October 23 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. India will meet Pakistan in their opening game of the World Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on October 24, the two teams will play for a T20I match after the last time they played in the previous edition of the showpiece event.
Gautam Gambhir predicts finalists of 2021 T20 World Cup
Gambhir played a spectacular inning of 75 in the final against Pakistan to take India’s score to 157/5 in the first innings and as we know rest is the history created by the bowlers as India won by five runs in a nail-biting encounter.
Gambhir picked his four teams that are likely to make it through the group stage, and surprisingly, the teams Gambhir named were the semi-finalists in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.
For the final two teams, Gambhir chose 2016 World T20 runners-up England as the favourite to make through the final match of ICC T20 World Cup and either India or New Zealand could be the second finalists.
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West Indies are the most successful team to lift the title twice and they will look forward to chase their third title. They have already hosted South Africa and Australia in a five-match T20I series at home, losing by a 3-2 margin against the Proteas but won 4-1 against Australia.