T20 World Cup 2024: India, England snubbed as Nathan Lyon names two finalists of the tournament

Veteran Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon recently predicted the finalists of the T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to be played in the West Indies and the USA in June. Nathan Lyon snubbed strong title contenders like India, England, and South Africa while picking the two teams in the upcoming ICC tournament.

England will enter as the defending champions in the highly anticipated tournament. The Jos Buttler-led team won the 2022 T20 World Cup by defeating Pakistan in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). India experienced disappointment after being defeated by the eventual winners in the semi-finals.

A total of 20 teams will compete for the trophy in the global event. The teams have been divided into four groups of five each. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage. The top four teams will progress to the semi-finals, where they will compete to reach a berth in the summit clash.

They Have Quality Spin Bowlers - Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon predicted Australia and Pakistan as the finalists in the T20 World Cup. Lyon stated that he is quite biased towards Australia and added that Pakistan have quality spin bowlers to make the most of the tournament conditions.

"These are my 2024 cricket predictions. For the T20 final teams, Australia, obviously, because I'm quite biased towards them. I'm going to go with Pakistan. In those conditions, they have quality spin bowlers but also electric batters like Babar Azam," Nathan Lyon said.

Australia is grouped in B with England, Namibia, Oman, and Scotland for the T20 World Cup 2024. The 2021 champions will face Oman in their first match in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday, June 6. The Mitchell Marsh-led team will take on England in their second group stage at the same venue on June 8.

Young batter Jake Fraser-McGurk failed to make the squad despite his strong performance for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL 2024. Veteran batter Steven Smith was also omitted from the squad. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh will lead the Australian team. Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa are the two spinners in the team.

Pakistan is in Group A alongside India, the USA, Canada, and Ireland. The Babar Azam-led team will begin their campaign on June 6 against the USA in Dallas. They will face Team India in New York on June 9. They will also compete against Canada and Ireland in their last two group-stage matches in the tournament.

Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan

Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: Yashasvi Jaiswal sits out, Shubman Gill bats in India's first practice session