T20 World Cup 2022: 5 Outright Bets to Take

The stage gets underway on Saturday 22 October with the hosts and defending champions Australia taking on New Zealand at the SCG in Sydney. gives us his 5 Outright Bets to Take for the showpiece.

India

India come into this world cup as the number-one ranked side in this format. Rohit Sharma’s team has found form at just the right time with key batsmen like KL Rahul and Virat Kohli being among the runs. They beat Australia and South Africa in their last two series and will be full of confidence going into the world cup.

They have a very good side on paper and a lot of match-winners in their side including the in-form Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya to name a few. This Indian side will be more than motivated to win the tournament after failing to make the semis In the previous one. Despite missing Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, I’m backing them to win the world cup and they are great value at 4.35.

Suryakumar Yadav

The number two-ranked T20I batter in the world has had a wonderful year. Suryakumar Yadav has scored the most runs (801) and also became the first player to hit 50 sixes in this format in a calendar year. He achieved all this while coming in at number four.

It’s usually best to bet on opening batsmen in T20s, mainly because they can face the most balls and have the opportunity to bat in the Powerplay. The likes of Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan and David Warner will definitely be in the mix but I see “SKY” edging them as I’m also backing India to win the tournament or at least reach the final.

Rilee Rossouw

There are a few options for South Africa’s top batsman for the tournament but when you look at his recent form and the fact that he bats a three, Rilee Rossouw is my pick. He’s been fantastic ever since returning to the Proteas side and some could argue that he’s an upgrade on Rassie van der Dussen in this format.

Rossouw scored a fantastic century in the final T20I match of the series against India, playing some fantastic shots. The left-handed batsman has backed that up with an unbeaten 54 off 32 balls in a warm-up game against New Zealand. Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram are also good options but Rossouw’s recent form is difficult to ignore.

South Africa

South Africa arrive in Australia with a batting line-up shy of the big names of old but packed full of explosive talent. They are backed up by one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament. Most people that have followed the Proteas closely in this format since last year will tell you that Temba Bavuma’s side are capable of winning this tournament.

The captain himself could be the one standing in the way of that. It is no secret that Bavuma is out of form or just isn’t suited to this format. Bavuma has made just 64 runs in seven T20I innings this year at an average of 10.66 and a strike rate of 82.05. His overall T20I numbers aren’t too impressive as well with a strike rate of 116.5 in 28 matches.

They are my darkhorses for the tournament and have added Rilee Roussow and Tristan Stubbs to an already talented batting lineup. South Africa have improved both collectively and individually since last year’s world cup and expect them to go one better and reach the semifinals this year.

Josh Hazlewood

Josh Hazlewood has elevated his game in this format which has seen him rise to number one in the T20I bowler rankings. He had a brilliant world cup last year claiming 11 wickets and has the threat of taking wickets upfront, in the middle overs and at the death if required to. I expect the Aussies to go far in this tournament which will mean Hazlewood will play enough games to take the most wickets in his home conditions.

Out of these 5 bets to take, this was the most difficult to choose from with the likes of Anrich Norje and Wanindu Hasaranga also looking like good bets.