India, Jan. 29 -- Ravi Shastri believes India has all the firepower to successfully defend its T20 World Cup title starting February 7. India, the reigning champions, who ended a 13-year-long wait by beating South Africa in the final two years ago, head into the home World Cup as favourites. They haven't lost a bilateral T20I series since 2023, and with captain Suryakumar Yadav hitting form right in the nick of time, India have all boxes ticked.

Shastri, the former India coach who did not win an ICC title despite coming close in the 2019 World Cup, feels the current crop of players are fiercely motivated, and the fact that most of them will be playing their first World Cup is what makes them all the more threatening. India has a couple o...