Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa have already qualified for the Super 12 and will face four more teams to make it to the semi-finals on November 9-10.
It says something about the unpredictable nature of the T20 World Cup that only one team – West Indies – has won the tournament more than once.
Hosts Australia will be aiming to become only the second team to achieve the feat, following their victory in the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2021.
Former England captain Michael Atherton believes Australia is the ‘fair favourite’ but has tipped the ‘dark horse’ South Africa into trouble and win the tournament for the first time ever.
South Africa were in the T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2009 and 2014 and finished last year’s group stage along with both Australia and England, only to be eliminated due to their low run-rates.
I think it’s a very open tournament, Michael Atherton said on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
‘Each side feels there are some weaknesses. I would say that on home turf Australia is probably the favourite, but if you think about the last tournament, although they have won it, you would not say that they were an excellent side across the board. They were defeated by England in the group stage.
‘It’s quite open to me and I wonder if there might be a good case for someone like South Africa to come from outside.
‘I’m going to take a flyer and look out of the top three and go for South Africa. They can be a dark horse and end up breaking a duck in these incidents.’
England, champions in this format in 2010, were one of the favorites to win the 2021 T20 World Cup, but lost to runners-up New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Hussain said, ‘Australia looks to be a very, very strong side. ‘He thinks he has covered every base and is going to be very dangerous at home.
‘If you look at the odds, Australia is the favorite but England beat them [in a practice match] the other day, so I’m going for England.’
Meanwhile, Atherton explained why he doesn’t see New Zealand as one of the main contenders to win the competition.
Like South Africa, New Zealand are also bidding to win their maiden T20 World Cup, having come so close in the previous tournament.
Atherton said, “They are very consistent, but I just have a feeling that some players have lost a little bit of form in 12 months and I wonder about their firepower with the bat.”
‘They are going to be competitive and dangerous, I wonder if they have enough firepower to make the finals like they did last time.
‘I think England and Australia are the favorites to go from that group rather than New Zealand. But his aim, as always, will be to prove people wrong.