India starts with a ‘hot’ opener

India takes on New Zealand in the tournament opener even as the entire nation and the world have projected Dhoni’s team as the overwhelming favourites but the only hitch for the home side seems to be the fact that no host country has won the T20 world title ever since the first edition was held in South Africa. 

India’s run in the T20 in the last five months has been fabulous, winning almost everything in all conditions. They beat a strong Australia in Australia in a high-scoring series in January and then swamped Sri Lanka before moving to Bangladesh where they beat all their rivals on the way to the Asian T20 title. 

The dream run gave Dhoni the No 1 position in ICC T20 rankings. Amazingly, the Indian team has been in the form of their life in the shortest format of the game, similar to the run they enjoyed in the 1985 World Series Championship (50 overs) which they won comfortably. 

Current form and the fact that they are playing at home make them the frontrunners for this World competition but T20 cricket does not guarantee any result to any team based on facts and figures