Windies are a powerhouse

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Published on Wednesday, 29 August 2012 15:08

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Delhi, India (CMC): Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has identified West Indies among teams to pose the biggest threat to India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's dream of lifting his second Twenty20 World Cup title.

Dhoni led India to the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 and lifted the 50-over World Cup on home soil last year. India will head to Sri Lanka for the September 18 to October 7 event as one of the favourites but Ganguly remains wary of the West Indies' skills in the shortest form of the sport.

"They are a powerhouse. Guys like Chris Gayle, (Kieran) Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Andre Russel, and they got (off-spinner) Sunil Narine. He can be a match-winner” Ganguly, who will be part of the commentary team in Sri Lanka, told reporters on Tuesday.

"They also have a good fast bowling attack with Fidel Edwards  - bowling at 90 miles an hour.”.

Ganguly’s comments were endorsed by the former India player Sanjay Manjrekar.

"West Indies is a strong Twenty20 team because they have got the best four Twenty20 players in the world," said Manjrekar, who played 37 tests and 74 one-day internationals from 1987-1996.

Manjrekar has predicted that Pakistan, who have not hosted international cricket since 2009 because of the volatile security situation at home, would give a good account of themselves in Sri Lanka.

"The thing with Pakistan is that because there is not enough cricket happening back home, they are not in the spotlight very often. Come an ICC event, that's Pakistan's opportunity to show the world what they are made of” Manjrekar said.

"They have always been the show-off of world cricket. Pakistanis have that thing about showing off their skills. This is the time for them to get the attention of the cricket-loving public and they would want to seize it."

FULL SQUAD

Darren Sammy (Captain)

Dwayne Bravo (Vice Captain)

Samuel Badree

Darren Bravo

Johnson Charles

Fidel Edwards

Chris Gayle

Kieron Pollard

Sunil Narine

Denesh Ramdin (Wicket-keeper)

Ravi Rampaul

Andre Russell

Marlon Samuels

Lendl Simmons

Dwayne Smith

Fixtures for ICC World T20

WARM-UP

Thursday, Sept 13: vs Sri Lanka - NCC, Colombo

Monday, Sept 17: vs Afghanistan - P Sara Oval, Colombo

FIRST ROUND

Saturday, Sept 22: vs Australia - R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Monday, Sept 24: vs Ireland - R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

SUPER EIGHTS

Thursday, Sept 27: C1 v D2 - Pallekele

Thursday, Sept 27: A1 v B2 - Pallekele

Friday, Sept 28: D1 v C2 - Colombo

Friday, Sept 28: B1 v A2 - Colombo

Saturday, Sept 29: A1 v D2 - Pallekele

Saturday, Sept 29: C1 v B2 - Pallekele

Sunday Sept 30: B1 v C2 - Colombo

Sunday Sept 30: D1 v A2 - Colombo

Monday, Oct 1: B2 v D2 - Pallekele

Monday, Oct 1: A1 v C1 - Pallekele

Tuesday, Oct 2: B1 v D1 - Colombo

Tuesday, Oct 2: A2 v C2 - Colombo

SEMI-FINALS

Thursday, October 4: Super 8 Group 1-1 vs Super 8 Group 2-2 - R Premadasa Stadium

Friday, October 5: Super 8 Group 2-1 vs Super 8 Group 1-2 - R Premadasa Stadium

GRAND FINAL: Sunday, October 7 - R Premadasa Stadium

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