Press Trust of India
Mumbai, March 8: Joining the ever-growing chorus, New Zealand T20 skipper Kane Williamson picked India to emerge winners in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.
“India will probably be the favourites for this tournament. But all teams will come here believing they can win it also,” Williamson said at the pre-tournament media conference after the team’s first training session at the Wankhede Stadium here Tuesday.
“I think being the favourites, they (India) are certainly a team that will be tough to beat (in) the competition. They have got a number of match-winners which has made them such a formidable side,” the Kiwi skipper added.
New Zealand will take on the hosts in their campaign opener March 15 in Nagpur and the 25-year-old batsman said it would be great to get off to a good start by defeating the Indians.
“We have a tough match first up. We will be preparing as well as we can for these conditions. It will be great to get a good start (against India), so that we can carry the momentum forward into the tournament,” Williamson, who will be playing in his third World T20 tournament, stated.
Williamson, who has succeeded Brendon McCullum as captain, said the team was in a transitional phase after the retirement of his predecessor and stressed that they needed to play smart cricket in India.
“It’s important we adapt and play good and smart cricket. Because the game here will be quite different to what we play at home. So we need to play according to the conditions here,” pointed out Williamson.
