ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010 favorites

The prediction time is back again. Last time I predicted the winner correctly but had no good luck after that. This time however I am more conservative. Not following IPL means that I have a clean mind and would not be carried away by the performances in `tamasha' cricket. The warm ups have started and Indians with their infinite wisdom have decided not to play any warm up games. This will help. At least it will ensure that the expectations are not skyrocketed with a worthless win as it happened against Pakistan last time.

Most of the players are fatigued. More so Indians. But two teams stand out for me. Pakistan and Australia. Both are relatively fresh. Pakistan will sorely miss Umar Gul but the depth in their bowling attack will ensure it will be their most potent weapon. The batting relies heavily on Akmals. However watch out for Abdur Razzaq. He can be devastating in limited overs format. Afridi is the right person to captain the side given his current form. The batting looks thin but I believe that Misbah and Salman Butt would do much better this time. To me the Australians seem to be the next best team in the tournament. Their form in this format for last year or so has been fantastic. As I write the Aussies have surprisingly lost to Zimbabwe but I believe that is an aberration. A lot depends on how the pitch at Barbados plays. If it has some help for fast bowlers the Australians have the best of that lot. Otherwise they may struggle on slow wickets of the kind that were offered in recent West Indies - Zimbabwe series.

Other than these two every team looks at same level. But if I had to choose semifinal lineup I would go for Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. If the pitches in second stage will assist slow bowling, India too could be in with a chance.

Champions Trophy favorites

The ODIs will surely get some limelight when the Champions trophy begins next week. The ICC tournaments have now become more democratic or may be more 'open' as I think democratic is not the correct word to be used. You cannot say, "Australia will win" and be assured that you will be proved right. Though Australia are currently very close to South Africa, the table toppers in ODIs, they are far behind them as far as performances go. Still, they have mauled a wretched English team (Aussies lead 6-0 at the time of writing). As far as my predictions are concerned, they go like this :

1) India: Dont go by their recent failures in the ICC twenty20. The youth brigade is very capable of turning tables in this form of game. Add to the lot the experience of seniors and the team becomes formidable. Bowling and fielding look weak link but in my opinion both RP and Praveen along with Nehra will prove to be too hot to handle.

2) South Africa: You may call them 'chokers' but the only ICC event they have won is the Champions Trophy. They have the best combination of fielding, batting and bowling units. J P Duminy may turn out to be more dangerous in this form of the game.

3) Sri Lanka: A lot depends on how their batsmen handle the pace and bounce of South Africa. But with their bowling and fielding they look sure to pull out few surprises. Getting to Semis should be easy considering they have only England and NZ to beat.

4) Australia: They are difficult to write off. Especially given the current form of Lee, Ponting, Clarke, White and Fergusson. But it remains to be seen whether they can replicate this form against stronger sides.

5)Pakistan: They have tough group and but knowing the fact that they always raise their game a notch or two against arch rivals India I believe they have a slim chance of making it to the semi finals.

I may sound harsh but I believe England and West Indies are just making numbers and New Zealand have an outside chance of making it to last four