Lara predicts India or Pakistan will win Twenty/20 World Cup

Port-of-Spain, March 19(IANS) India or Pakistan could win this year's Twenty/20 World Cup, according to former West Indies captain Brian Lara.

He told the media that even though he projects a win by either one, the winner is still hard to predict because of the nature of Twenty/20 cricket.

He said that both Asian countries were adept at batting on 'flat wickets thus giving them the advantage in the batsman-friendly form of the game.'

Some 12 teams will participate in four groups in the Twenty/20 World Cup schedule to start in England on June 5.

'A team like India or Pakistan, accustomed to good batting tracks, flat tracks and capable of being innovative could be the ones to walk away with the trophy,' he said.

'I'm still a connoisseur of test cricket as the true test of any sportsman. But I think Twenty/20 cricket is a great invention, especially for the spectator. It's a great addition to the game and I look forward to see the ICC World Tweny/20,' he said.

In 2007, he supported the West Indies due to the fact that as a team, 'we may have been short in test cricket but very good over a shorter game and Twenty/20 was a version of the game, with players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, I thought we would love.'

Lara quit test cricket two years ago, but remains a keen observer, commentator and supporter of the game.