T20 World Cup 2024 pundit predictions: Will England defend title? How will USA fare? Who will top run charts? | Cricket News

Who will win the 2024 T20 World Cup? How will England fare? Who will finish as the leading wicket-taker and top run-scorer? And can co-hosts USA stun the watching world?

We’ve asked Sky Sports Cricket’s Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan, Mark Butcher and Ian Ward, as well as former Pakistan captain Urooj Mumtaz, for their picks, including who they think will hold the trophy aloft in Barbados after the final on June 29.

Watch the opening game of the T20 World Cup – USA vs Canada in Dallas – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 1am on Sunday (first ball 1.30am), with defending champions England beginning their campaign against Scotland in Barbados on Tuesday June 4 (3.30pm first ball).

Who will win the World Cup?

STUART BROAD: It’s one of the hardest tournaments to pick for a while. I see England, India, West Indies in their own backyard and South Africa making up the four semi-finalists… and I reckon it could finally be South Africa’s time.

EOIN MORGAN: I think India are out-and-out favourites. Strength-in-depth wise, they’re excellent. I also think England have a really, really strong chance and Australia, come World Cup time, just know how to win. They’re my standouts.

IAN WARD: I think this is a big tournament for India. They were brilliant in the 50-over World Cup last year but just couldn’t get over the line. That is their biggest challenge.

MARK BUTCHER: I think England have got a fantastic chance. I wouldn’t put it past them winning the whole thing – and that’s not just me being patriotic. Particularly as they’ve now got Jofra Archer back around the group – one man shouldn’t make that much difference, but he really does.

UROOJ MUMTAZ: It’s always difficult to look past Australia. I think they’re probably slightly ahead of the rest to lift that trophy.

How will England do?

BROAD: They’re defending T20 champions. Obviously the 50-over World Cup was a disappointment, but they’re very different formats – in ODIs, you need about six players to have a good game, whereas T20 you can win with only a couple firing – and England have players like Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer who are natural match-winners.

MORGAN: They’ll have learnt a huge amount from the ODI World Cup experience. They acknowledge mistakes were made along the way and they’ve rectified that since, both in terms of consistency of selection and clarity of message in what they’re trying to do. The expectation is still very high, and justifiably so because of the quality that they have.

WARD: I think, quite simply, they have to be in the final four. That’s a bare minimum, given the talent in their squad. They’re well capable of winning it again… but we need to see everyone going in the same direction. That was not the case in last year’s 50-over World Cup.

MUMTAZ: I think England have got enough firepower and a lot of players in really good form. I see them in the final four, if not the final two, for sure.

What can we expect from co-hosts USA?

BROAD: It’s really exciting, I think, to have one of the most iconic games in cricket, India versus Pakistan, in New York. That will be such a special occasion and ultimately we want the game of cricket to grow worldwide as much as we can.

MORGAN: They’re a good team and will go under the radar – there’s the ‘unknown factor’ which will work to their advantage. If they can get that first victory, that will give them a huge amount of confidence, ideally in that opening game against Canada. They’re a beautiful story.

MUMTAZ: India vs Pakistan is a blockbuster anywhere but when they play in New York it becomes a global blockbuster because it will attract and inspire a new audience to the game. As for the US team, their recent results – two wins over Bangladesh – are phenomenal. You listen to the comments coming out of the US camp, they’re there to spring a surprise.

BUTCHER: All eyes are going to be on that India-Pakistan game in New York. Ticket prices for that are frightening! If the game shows the best of itself in that part of the world, then of course you’ve got another market to grow into.

WARD: I never thought I’d say we’d be playing cricket in Dallas! The stadiums look absolutely fabulous, I have to say, and the Americans know how to put on a show. They’ve just beaten Bangladesh, so they’re capable of putting a couple of victories together and getting some interest, which is basically why it’s in the States, isn’t it?

Team most likely to spring an upset?

BROAD: You can’t even look now at Afghanistan as being underdogs, because they’ve got so many match-winners. In years to come, if they keep producing this amount of talent, we’re going to see them challenge for trophies.

MORGAN: I’m hearing a lot of good things about Nepal. And, coming at this a different way, there’s two teams I would look at who could prove shock winners of the tournament… West Indies and Pakistan. For the co-hosts, the only area they’re a bit short is in the seam department, and Pakistan you can never write off. They can front up and beat anybody on any given day.

BUTCHER: There’s always shocks, T20 as a format brings the teams closer together. It happens in these World Cups more and more – just as long as it doesn’t happen to England! Nepal are the ones I’d say are certainly capable of springing an upset.

As far as teams who can perhaps upset the apple cart, I think the West Indies are a bit of a wildcard. They’ve got extreme power right the way down the batting line-up; hopefully the home crowds will be there to support them and they’ll put on a really good showing. I fancy them to have a strong tournament.

WARD: Ireland have shown they’re capable of beating the big sides regularly. It will also be nice to see the likes of Nepal and Oman, to see where they’re at.

Leading wicket-taker

BROAD: Jasprit Bumrah. He’s such a threat with the ball.

MORGAN: I would lean towards a spinner. I think the wickets are going to offer a lot of spin and will probably slow up, so I’m going to go with Ravindra Jadeja.

MUMTAZ: It’s difficult to look past Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc. Both bowl in the powerplay, with swing and a phenomenal wicket-taking ability. In terms of spin, I’d put Rashid Khan in the mix as well.

BUTCHER: You don’t look too much further than Jasprit Bumrah, while I also hope Jofra Archer is up there.

WARD: I’m tempted to say a spinner, maybe Adil Rashid or Adam Zampa, because I think it will play a big part, but I also don’t think you can look past Jasprit Bumrah.

Leading run-scorer

BROAD: I’m going for Jos Buttler.

MORGAN: Jos Buttler. He’s been in magnificent form in recent franchise tournaments and I expect him to lead from the front.

MUMTAZ: It’s difficult to look past Jos Buttler. You’d imagine also that Babar Azam will be up there, Travis Head is in sublime form and then there’s the GOAT Virat Kohli. One of those four.

BUTCHER: You hope that Jos Butler has a fabulous tournament. Virat Kohli’s form in the IPL has also been outrageous and Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa could be one of the most impactful players.

WARD: An opener, or at least someone in the top three. England will hope that’s Jos Buttler – he’s the best white-ball batter we’ve ever had and his runs are so vital to the team. Then there’s Travis Head or maybe Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa.

Trend for the tournament?

BROAD: I don’t think the scores will be as extreme as the IPL, where some of the hitting was absolutely incredible. In the Caribbean, I think we’ll see bowlers bowling into the pitch, cross-seamers and a bit slower, like our 2010 win over there.

MORGAN: The trend towards high scores in the IPL was probably the most dramatic for a long time. It stood out like a sore thumb; the bowlers didn’t really have an answer to the way that batters were striking the ball. But I see this World Cup as redemption for the bowlers, with the pitches aiding a recalibration of the game their way.

BUTCHER: Bowlers, as they always do in these international tournaments, will have an enormous say, despite the fact that they might disappear out of the park. There are too many high-quality ones in these teams for that not to be the case.

WARD: Way back when, in 2010 when England won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, it was slower-ball bouncers that proved effective. What I’m very interested to see is, what can the bowlers come up with to try and level the playing field this time? They’re up against it.

Watch every match from the Men’s T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports between June 2 and 29. England open up against Scotland in Barbados on Tuesday June 4 (3.30pm first ball) with Ireland playing India in New York on Wednesday June 5 (also 3.30pm).

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