Kevin Pietersen Backs India As Favourites For ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 As Men In Blue Begin Campaign Preparations

Mumbai: The former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen termed the Indian team as the favourites in the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February-March.

Speaking to ANI at ICC partnership event in Mumbai, Pietersen said that in the shortest format of the game, especially in India, the Men in Blue are the favourites.

"They're favourites. They really are the favourites. In the shortest form and in India- they're favourites," Kevin Pietersen said.

Defending Champions India are scheduled to begin their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign on February 7 against United States of America at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The Men in Blue, led by Suryakumar Yadav, are playing five-match T20I series against New Zealand on home soil. The series serves as an adequate preparation for the marquee T20I for India and New Zealand.

India started the series with a dominant win over the Kiwis as they defeated the visitors by 48 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh were major contributors to India's win.

In the match, New Zealand elected to field first. Abhishek Sharma (84 in 35 balls, with five fours and eight sixes) and Rinku Singh (44* in 20 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) along with important cameos from skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32 in 22 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Hardik Pandya (25 in 16 balls, with three fours and a six) took India to 238/7 in 20 overs.

Jacob Duffy (2/27) and Kyle Jamieson (2/54) were the top bowlers for NZ.

During the chase, the Kiwis were down at 52/3, but a 79-run stand between Phillips and Mark Chapman (39 in 24 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) gave the Kiwis a glimmer of hope. However, Chakravarthy (2/37) and Arshdeep Singh (1/31) delivered fine spells to restrict NZ to 190/7 in 20 overs, giving India a win and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

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