Sourav Ganguly names this key player for India's successful T20 World Cup defence: 'If he's fit then...'

India are the favourites to successfully defend their T20 World Cup crown feels former India captain Sourav Ganguly. 2026 T20 World Cup begins February 7 and will be hosted across eight venues in India and Sri Lanka. The Men In Blue won the last T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies in 2024 and have not lost a series since then despite the retirements of legends like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.

Ganguly was asked about India’s chances at the upcoming event during a recent media interaction on the sidelines of SA20 where he said that the Men In Blue were favourites because of their strong spin attack. He also said that a fit Varun Chakravarthy would further boost India’s chances.

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“Yeah, nothing (home World Cup) gets bigger than that, and India is always my favourite team. They have a strong spin attack and if Chakravarthy is fit then it’s good for India,” Ganguly said.

Chakravarthy is currently the top-ranked bowler in T20Is and has been a key figure in India’s bowling line-up since his comeback into the team.

In 33 T20Is, the right-arm mystery spinner has 55 wickets at an average of 14.87 and an economy of 6.96. He is expected to be India’s trump card in the World Cup.

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Ganguly opens up about SA20 coaching role

Ganguly also talked about his maiden stint as a coach in SA20 where he is at the helm of Pretoria Capitals.

“First time ever in my life, head coach. But I am enjoying it. Actually, I am very close to (Delhi Capitals co-owner) Parth (Jindal), so he asked me to do this, so I did it.

“I am also learning. I may have played any amount of matches, captained any amount of matches, but this is different. I am coaching and I am doing this to learn and understand,” said Ganguly, who is the Director of Cricket at Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

Pretoria Capitals have so far won three matches and lost three matches in the ongoing SA20 with one match producing no result. They are currently at the third spot in the six-team table.