NEW DELHI: Without playing down India’s chances, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly suggested on Tuesday that West Indies were among the frontrunners to lift the World T20 title in Sri Lanka next month.
“West Indies are a powerhouse (in this format),” an impressed Ganguly told reporters at an event organized by tournament broadcasters ESPN-Star Sports.”They have guys like Chris Gayle, (Kieron) Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Andre Russel and (off-spinner) Sunil Narine. They also have a good fast bowling attack with Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach, all bowling at 90 miles an hour,” Ganguly added.Ganguly’s fellow commentator for the event, former Test batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, agreed, saying, “West Indies are a strong Twenty20 team because they have got the best four T20 players in the world.”While both felt there are other teams like Pakistan who can rise to the occasion, India too will be looking to add to their one World T20 title, won in 2007, when they head to Sri Lanka for the Sept 18-Oct 7 event.”When you have players like Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, it is very difficult to count India out. There is a lot of firepower there,” Ganguly said.”India always have a great chance, especially in limited-overs cricket. They have got the players who can clear the boundary with ease and they will be playing in the subcontinent, where the short ball will not bother them. India have most things going in their favour. If Sehwag fires at the top, it will be difficult to stop India. That said, they are in a tough group in World T20.”‘Bhajji should have been recalled earlier’Ganguly also chose to bat for beleaguered recalled off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, saying, “Harbhajan is one bowler who should be playing all three formats of the game. One year was a bit too long time to keep him out. The board should have spoken to him and told him, ‘Look, we are giving you six months time to sort out your bowling’. You can’t keep a bowler like him in domestic cricket for too long.”’27 cameras for each match’The official broadcasters will be installing 27 cameras for each of the 27 matches during the World Twenty20. “We will have 27 cameras for each match. We will also have touch screen cricket presentation tool in our analysis,” an ESPN director said.