Ex-Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist calls T20 cricket 'lottery', refrains from picking winner for World Cup in 2020

Mumbai: Australia cricket legend Adam Gilchrist on Wednesday said T20 cricket is a bit of lottery but pinned India as one of the favourites to lift the format’s ICC World Cup in his country next year.

Besides India, Gilchrist picked England, his own country and New Zealand as the front-runners.

“Probably they (India) will be featuring in semi-finals and the finals. I can’t predict who is going to win but I suspect that the usual suspects like India, England, Australia and New Zealand will probably make the long way, semi-finals of course,” Gilchrist said at a promotional event in Mumbai.

Insisting that current world no 1 T20 side Pakistan too cannot be counted out, Gilchrist said even though he has listed his favourites, it is hard to predict anything in the shortest format of the game.

“Pakistan are number one-ranked team in the format, so you cannot rule them out. But T20 cricket is a bit of lottery so it is hard to predict the winner until the final runs are scored or wickets are taken,” he added.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup begins from 21 February with hosts Australia taking on India at Sydney and the final is slated for 8 March — the International Women’s Day — at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 45-match ICC Men’s T20 World Cup too will be held in Australia from 18 October to 15 November next year.

The two events will be played across eight Australian cities — Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.