T20 World Cup 2024: No place for Australia as Brian Lara predicts his semifinalists and finalists for World Cup

West Indies legend Brian Lara has revealed his predictions for the semi-finalists of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which is set to be held in the USA and Caribbean from June 1 to June 29.

The legendary batter shared his insights on the teams he believes will make it to the semifinals and finals of the upcoming T20 World Cup in 2024. Lara has placed his bets on some of the traditional powerhouses along with a couple of surprises for the highly anticipated tournament.

Brian Lara picks his Semifinalists and Finalists for T20 World Cup 2024

Brian Lara has surprisingly left out the 2021 T20 World Cup champions Australia, South Africa, and Pakistan, as he picked the hosts West Indies, India, defending champions England, and Afghanistan as his semi-finalists for the upcoming global event.

The cricket legend believes the West Indies cricket team has the potential to reach the final of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, given their wealth of individual talent and their capability to deliver the best together as a team.

He also backed Team India to make it to the top 4, despite recent controversies surrounding their team selection for the upcoming mega event. Lara stressed that his predictions are inspired by the 2007 ODI World Cup hosted in the Caribbean.

The former cricketer-turned-commentator expressed a desire for a title clash between India and the West Indies in order to correct the disappointments of the 2007 ODI World Cup. Lara highlighted that India's early exit and the West Indies' failure to reach the semifinals killed the hype of the tournament.

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Brian Lara was quoted as saying by PTI: “West Indies should do well. They have a lot of individual stars and when they come together as a team, they do well. India, with all their cry over selection, they find themselves in the top four. England, they seem to enjoy Caribbean a lot, lay on the beach a lot, so they will be there. For the fourth spot, I think Afghanistan. They are capable of getting into the four.”

Lara added, “India and West Indies final is going to make up for so much wrong that has happened in the past. India missing out in 2007 in second round, that killed us in the Caribbean. We don't want that to happen again. So, India and West Indies in the final and may the best team win.”

Meanwhile, the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 will be a 55-match event that will be held across nine venues in both the West Indies and the USA. In the United States, three venues will stage the 2024 T20 World Cup matches and they are Eisenhower Park in New York, Lauderhill in Florida, and Grand Prairie in Texas.

On the other hand, in the West Indies, T20 WC 2024 matches will be hosted at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, Providence Stadium in Guyana, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia, and Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent.

The semi-final fixtures are scheduled for June 26 and 27 in Guyana and Trinidad, respectively. The final of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 will be held in Barbados on June 29.