'You have to look at India'

With more Twenty20 games under their belt, India have a slight edge over the other teams in the ICC World T20 Championship starting on June 5, feels New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori. 

"You have to look at India. First and foremost they have probably played the most Twenty20 cricket in terms of individuals and the guys have gone ahead playing in the IPL," Vettori said at the official press conference in London on Sunday.

However, the Kiwi captain is also not ready to undermine the other teams. 

"Sri Lanka will be dangerous with their bowling as (Muttiah) Muralitharan, (Lasith) Malinga  and (Ajantha) Mendis will be tough to score off. 

"Then there is Australia and South Africa, they also have a very formidable line up," Vettori added. 

His Pakistani counterpart Younis Khan said he was confident of winning the trophy this time but even a final four finish would give a boost to cricket in his country. 

"My confidence is that I'll take this trophy to Pakistan. Even if we don't win it will be an achievement for us to finish in the top four," he said. 

"Winning the tournament will be great impetus for our cricket. If we play good cricket it will be good for our nation. These days our country is depressed. Only cricket will start cheering the people there," he added.

Younis felt it was not necessary for top order batsmen to go for big shots right from the start off. 

"Twenty20 looks short, but it's not -- 120 balls is enough If you bat normally but with energy, especially in the middle order and with good runners between the wickets, 180-90 is very easy.

"In English conditions the new ball does seam, so you need someone like Salman Butt who can play for 20 overs. But in the middle order, we have big hitters like Shahid Afridi and Misbah-Ul-Haq." 

On the defeat to India in the 2007 final, Younis said, "We could not finish off the match when we needed only five runs. But it was fantastic to be a part of that team. Some guys were crying at the end, but hopefully we'll have the finishing touches this time," Younis said. 

Khan said opener Salman Butt and middle order Misbah-ul-Haq have niggling injuries but should recover in time for the first game at The Oval against england on June 7.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle said his side has the wherewithal to emerge winners despite going into the tournament on the back of defeats to England in the recent Test and ODI series.

"Any team can win. We are confident we can win. It won't be easy but we are looking forward to it," he said. 

His first priority though is to get into the second stage by qualifying from the tough group which also has Australia and Sri Lanka.

"It would be nice to be up in there in the top four but the first priority is to try and get to the second stage and then we can take it from there," he said.

"It is a big disadvantage (to have been drawn with Australia and Sri Lanka) but at the same time it is good to get them early and once we can get past these two tough teams it will be easy in the next round. We will see what they have to offer."

Gayle was also happy that his side had recorded victories over Scotland and Ireland in the preparation for the tournament. 

"It's good to get a couple of wins under our belt. It's been good for the guys to get that feel (of winning) again."