Teams from the subcontinent start favourites

Going by past record alone, Pakistan are the firm favourites to lift the ICC World Twenty20 (if there can be anything called favourites in a format as fickle as this). They won the tournament last year, were the finalist in 2007, and have a much better overall record in 20-over cricket than any other side.

South Africa come closest to them, and in fact have a better win-loss ratio in the World Twenty20, but they've lost out in crucial games - to India in 2007, and to Pakistan in the 2009 edition. Australia, on the other hand, have a good record overall but a very poor one in World Cups. India, after a closely fought win over Pakistan in the 2007 final, have not had a very good time in the Twenty20 format. They have won just five and lost seven of the 12 games played since their victory. Sri Lanka, the finalists in 2009, are the only other team with a win-loss ratio of more than two in World Cups.

In a tournament which has been dominated by teams from the subcontinent, it's hardly surprising that players from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been the most successful. Among the top eight run-scorers in World Twenty20s so far, only two are from non-subcontinent teams.

Gautam Gambhir and Mahela Jayawardene are entering the tournament after fine performances in the IPL, while Yuvraj Singh needs to lift his game considerably to regain the form that made him a top batsman in this format. Chris Gayle didn't do much in the IPL, but he has been extremely dangerous batsman in this format and home conditions lend him an even greater advantage. Yuvraj and Gayle are also the top two six-hitters in World Twenty20 matches: Yuvraj has struck 21 sixes, while Gayle has 18.

The bowlers from the subcontinent have been the most successful in this tournament so far. Shahid Afridi and Lasith Malinga are among the top wicket-takers, but the most successful bowler in the competition will be missed: Umar Gul has 26 wickets at a superb average of 12.03, but is out of the World Cup due to a shoulder injury.

Spinners have proved to be far more effective at curtailing the scoring rate in Twenty20 internationals, and they're likely to be even more in demand in the West Indies, where pitches are likely to be slow. The tables below summarises the performance of fast bowlers and spinners in the Twenty20 World Cup and in all Twenty20 internationals so far.

One of the key aspects in the tournament will be the ability of batsmen to limit the number of dot balls they play. In the Twenty20 World Cup matches so far Afridi leads the way while Kevin Pietersen and MS Dhoni also have extremely low dot ball percentages. On the other end of the table, though, are the big hitters like Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya, who prefer the big shots to the singles. The fact that they're openers, and hence bat when field restrictions are on, also increases the number of dots.

Batsmen with the Lowest dot ball percentage (min balls faced 150)

Batsman	Balls faced	Dot balls	Percentage of dot balls
Shahid Afridi	267	52	30.40
Kevin Pietersen	332	65	30.80
MS Dhoni	240	67	32.05
Misbah-Ul-Haq	300	79	34.95
Jacques Kallis	238	66	35.10
Tillakaratne Dilshan	382	99	36.39
AB de Villiers	236	62	37.12
Yuvraj Singh	175	65	37.13
Brendon McCullum	246	92	37.39
Mahela Jayawardene	313	90	39.13
Rohit Sharma	219	67	39.88
Gautam Gambhir	375	129	41.61
Kumar Sangakkara	281	111	42.36
Owais Shah	209	79	44.13
Kamran Akmal	232	86	45.50
Herschelle Gibbs	224	79	46.47
Sanath Jayasuriya	331	122	48.99
Chris Gayle	310	101	49.50
Graeme Smith	243	108	50.23

(Only includes batsmen who are in the squads for the 2010 tournament.)

As you'd expect, the ones with the high dot balls are also the ones who score a majority of their runs in boundaries. Gayle and Jayasuriya top the table with close to 70% of their runs in boundaries. Dhoni, on the other hand, scores just 38% of his runs in boundaries, which, coupled with an extremely low dot-ball percentage of 32.05, gives ample illustration of his batting style.

Batsmen with highest percentage of runs in boundaries (min runs scored 200)

Batsman	Total Runs	Runs in boundaries	Percentage of runs in boundaries
Chris Gayle	310	220	70.96
Sanath Jayasuriya	331	228	68.88
Yuvraj Singh	301	202	67.10
Herschelle Gibbs	224	144	64.28
Graeme Smith	243	156	64.19
Kevin Pietersen	332	204	61.44
Tillakaratne Dilshan	382	234	61.25
Brendon McCullum	246	144	58.53
Rohit Sharma	219	126	57.53
Jacques Kallis	238	136	57.14
Gautam Gambhir	375	208	55.46
AB de Villiers	236	130	55.08
Mahela Jayawardene	313	172	54.95
Kamran Akmal	232	126	54.31
Shahid Afridi	267	142	53.18
Owais Shah	209	108	51.67
Misbah-Ul-Haq	300	154	51.33
Kumar Sangakkara	281	130	46.26
MS Dhoni	240	92	38.33

(Only includes batsmen who are in the squads for the 2010 tournament.)

The inaugural edition of the tournament witnessed plenty of high scores, but the totals came down when the competition shifted to England, with a significant drop in the number of 200 plus scores. The West Indies have hosted only four Twenty20 internationals so far, and if the scores in those games are anything to go by, the average score in his edition will be even lower. The average runs per over in these four games has been 6.44, which is far lower than the corresponding figures of 7.99 and 7.62 for the tournaments in 2007 and 2009.

Highest team totals in ICC World Twenty20 2009

Team	Score	Opposition	Venue
South Africa	211/5	Scotland	The Oval
New Zealand	198/5	Ireland	Nottingham
Sri Lanka	192/5	West Indies	Nottingham
England	185/5	Pakistan	The Oval
South Africa	183/7	West Indies	The Oval