T20 World Cup 2021: Graeme Swann picks West Indies ahead of India as favourites to win the tournament

The days of the T20 World Cup is coming near, everyone is out picking their favourites for the tournament which will mark its return after a gap of five years. Former England spinner Graeme Swann has picked West Indies as his favourites for the tournament which will begin on October 17 and will take place in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. 

West Indies have previously won the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and the last edition of the tournament in India in 2016. For the 2021 edition, they have got back some of their champion players like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard available, who all were involved in the two triumphs.

During an interaction on the T20 World Cup trophy tour, Swann was asked by presenter Danish Sait who he would pick as the favourites. The former off-spinner did note that if the tournament was held in India as it was planned, then he would have picked India as the favourites. However, the change in venue has allowed West Indies to emerge as favourites. 

West Indies have got power, power and power through their batting: Graeme Swann

“Well, now this might not go down too well in India. If this would have been in India, then India would have been the firm favourites. The fact that the tournament is in the UAE, makes West Indies the favourites in my view. They have got power, power and power through their batting and tidy bowling,” Swann was heard saying in the video which was uploaded by the official Twitter page of the T20 World Cup. 

Here's why @Swannyg66 believes @windiescricket are the favourites to lift the ICC Men's #T20WorldCup 💬

Hear more from the former 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 spinner on Around The Wicket with @DanishSait, driven by @Nissan, premiering today 🤩 pic.twitter.com/M3nnAwdyky

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) August 22, 2021

West Indies have got a really good time to prepare for the tournament. They recently played three T20I series at home against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan in a bid to prepare for the tournament. They are also rumoured to be taking part in a T20I tri-series involving Afghanistan and Australia. On top of that, most of the top players will travel to the UAE for the IPL 2021 second leg, which will serve as good preparation for them. 

Having accounted for all these points, it should also be noted that in the past decade West Indies have kept their reputation high as the T20 specialists. After winning two titles in the 2010s, West Indies, under Kieron Pollard, have a solid team for the tournament.