Former Australia pacer Brett Lee feels the Indian workforce ought to make in-form batter KL Rahul the “pillar” round whom its innings is constructed to ease the strain on skipper Virat Kohli throughout this month’s T20 World Cup within the UAE.
Lee believes the Men in Blue, who received the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, are sturdy contenders to win the event that begins on Sunday. India will open their marketing campaign on October 24 towards Pakistan.
“England, they’re always a big threat because of the squad they’ve got and the experience they have. But, for me, India are the favourites,” Lee instructed ‘Foxsports.com.au.’
“You think about India dominating all formats but also because of the Indian Premier League, the young guys coming through, they’ve got some real good pace now as well and their top order can be unstoppable,” he added.
The 44-year-old picked Rahul, who has been in good nick with the willow within the second leg of the IPL — amassing 295 runs in six outings for Punjab Kings, to change into the main run-scorer within the World Cup.
“I’ve backed KL Rahul to get the most runs in the competition. I think KL Rahul coming off a great IPL, he’s the pillar that the guys can build around him because it takes the pressure off Kohli if Rahul is scoring runs.”
“It allows Kohli to just play his natural game. And obviously with Kohli and the captaincy, it’s probably his last crack at it so he’ll want to go out on a high.”
The former speedster feels that the trendy Suryakumar Yadav, who had a powerful white ball debut this yr, is the following large factor in Indian cricket.
“You speak about highs, Suryakumar Yadav, he’s simply the following neatest thing for India.
“India would definitely be one of top picks and could definitely win this thing,” Lee reiterated.
However, he feels Australia, which has endured a poor-run in shortest format of the sport lately, has picked it best-ever squad and might problem India for the title.
“I reckon this is probably one of the best squads that we’ve had.”
“I’m very patriotic, I want Australia to win and I think they can, but India definitely will be in the final and I think Australia has their best chance,” Lee added.
India and Australia are slated to lock horns in a warm-up sport in Dubai on October 20.
