Yuvraj Singh picks surprise favourite to win T20 World Cup and it's not India; WATCH

Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who played a pivotal role in Team India’s 2007 T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup triumphs, has picked his favourite side for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The next T20 Cricket World Cup will be played in the West Indies and the USA in June, with 20 teams taking part in it. Yuvraj Singh, acknowledged India, Australia, as well as defending champions England, as strong contenders but picked the world No. 6 T20I team, South Africa, as his favourite to win the 2024 T20 World Cup. Yuvraj spoke about South Africa’s notable performance in the ODI World Cup 2023 and said the Proteas have the potential to secure victory in the upcoming T20 tournament. “I have a different opinion here… and I think South Africa will win. They have not won a white-ball tournament and the way I saw their progress in the 50-over World Cup. And then obviously there’s Pakistan, who is very dangerous,” said Yuvraj in conversation alongside Gautam Gambir.

South Africa performed well in the ODI World Cup but lost to Australia in the semi-final. In the 2022 T20 World Cup, they failed to qualify for the semi-finals after a surprise 13-run defeat against the Netherlands in their last league match in Adelaide. In the T20 World Cup 2022, Pakistan reached the final but fell short of securing the title. Led by Babar Azam, Pakistan went down to England in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 13, 2022. Prior to this, England had convincingly defeated India by 10 wickets in the second semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on November 10, 2022. During this conversation, Gautam Gambhir spoke about the challenges the Indian team could face in the T20 World Cup. He mentioned that Afghanistan, particularly in those conditions, could pose a significant danger. He also said that Australia could be very formidable as well as England. It will be interesting to see the team Indian selectors pick for the tournament. There are still doubts about whether Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will feature in the next year’s marquee tournament. The batting duo has been missing the shortest format ever since India got knocked out of the T20 World Cup last year.