Sunil Gavaskar rules out India winning T20 World Cup 2026, names favourites

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has dropped a bombshell with his latest prediction of the two teams he believes have an upper hand to seal the title in this edition of the ICC T20 World Cup. Gavaskar completely ruled India out of his favourites list.

India have revived their chances for a World Cup semi-final entry with a win over Zimbabwe. Currently, both the West Indies and India stand at a point where they have lost their matches to South Africa and have dominated Zimbabwe with big victories.

While the India vs West Indies fixture at the Eden Gardens in the T20 World Cup has immense hype, the Men in Blue have the highest chance to walk it past to the World Cup, but the West Indies have not lost a single game at the Eden Gardens.

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Sunil Gavaskar throws out India, picks these two as World Cup favourites

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar dropped a bombshell with his latest selection of favourites in the World Cup. He did not pick India as one of his two favourites, but rather went with South Africa and England as his two favourites.

The last time a World Cup was played in India, England were the semi-finalists and were defeated by the West Indies. On the other hand, South Africa are still in the quest for their maiden ICC limited-overs title. However, they have surely flexed their muscles in this edition of the World Cup, emerging as the only undefeated side.

"For me, the two favourites are South Africa and England. England might have had a close victory, but that again is down to the modern tendency to try and finish the game off with a six. Otherwise, the England win would have been a very, very easy win against Pakistan," said Sunil Gavaskar on India Today.

"England, because they've got the bowlers who can bowl spin as well as quick. They've got a very good bowling attack and the batting also, they've got a fair bit of depth over there. So I think England and South Africa are the two teams to watch out for," Sunil Gavaskar added.

England and South Africa's World Cup journey in brief

South Africa started off their campaign with a massive victory against World Cup minnows Canada with a massive 57-run victory. They then played one of the most thrilling games of this year's T20 World Cup, where they defeated Afghanistan in the second round of the Super-over.

After that, South Africa did not look back, as they easily crushed New Zealand by a comfortable chase and then finished their group stage undefeated with their final win over the UAE. Coming into the Super-8, they triumphed in the rematch of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against India. They took a long stride with a commanding entry into the semis after defeating the in-form West Indies side.

England, on the other hand, started with a near and close victory against Nepal, where they won by just 4 runs. The second match was a humiliating defeat to the West Indies. Wins against Scotland and Italy, though by close margins, helped them to bring their campaign back on track.

In the Super-8, they have defeated the two Asian giants on spinning tracks, that is Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Their final game is scheduled against New Zealand on the 27th of February at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Qualification round might end with SA and England clashing in the semis

Though both South Africa and England are through to the semi-finals of the competition, England have not finalized their spot yet. South Africa will remain at the top of the table irrespective of the outcome of the match against Zimbabwe.

However, for England, they would be able to seal the top spot from their group only if they defeat New Zealand in today's clash. If New Zealand defeated England, then they would finish second in their group and end up playing against South Africa in the semis.

However, a win for them can mean that they will be through to play the semi-finals against India or the West Indies at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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