India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the tournament favourites to an impressive nine-wicket win over fellow 2007 finalists Pakistan in Wednesday's warm-up, but said the formbook should be thrown out of the window when it comes to the shortest format of the professional game.
"I don't think the win against Pakistan underlines our status as favourites," said Dhoni, who played in the final two years ago.
WORLD TWENTY20 GROUPS
GROUP A: India, Bangladesh, Ireland
GROUP B: Pakistan, England, Netherlands
GROUP C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies
GROUP D: New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland
"It's not about being favourites, you have to perform like this throughout the tournament to win.
"You can be thrown out of the tournament easily, especially at the knockout stage.
"We are the side that has done well, but that's all on paper after all that you have to go and do it but we have potential and we will be a tough team to beat."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith is more bullish about his side's chances. The second favourites open their campaign against Group D opponents Scotland at The Oval on Monday, followed by New Zealand at Lord's on 9 June.
"We have an exciting squad with pace, swing and spin in the bowling department and plenty of depth to our batting," Smith said.
We're very much dark horses and hopefully that will give the boys a bit more of a licence
England captain Paul Collingwood
"In terms of talent, flair and confidence, this is the strongest Proteas team that I have captained."
He added: "We are very well balanced both in terms of youth and experience and in terms of having all our bases covered regardless of whether the conditions favour swing or spin.
"Most international cricketers have not played a lot of international Twenty20 cricket to date and the 14 matches in the recent Indian Premier League has given them the chance to formulate new ideas and plans for this format of the game."
Australia's challenge was dealt a huge blow on Friday when it was announced that all-rounder and big-hitter Andrew Symonds would be returning home because of an "alcohol-related incident".
However, captain Ricky Ponting believes his side have enough strength in depth to cope with the loss
"I don't think the win against Pakistan underlines our status as favourites," said Dhoni, who played in the final two years ago.
WORLD TWENTY20 GROUPS
GROUP A: India, Bangladesh, Ireland
GROUP B: Pakistan, England, Netherlands
GROUP C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies
GROUP D: New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland
"It's not about being favourites, you have to perform like this throughout the tournament to win.
"You can be thrown out of the tournament easily, especially at the knockout stage.
"We are the side that has done well, but that's all on paper after all that you have to go and do it but we have potential and we will be a tough team to beat."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith is more bullish about his side's chances. The second favourites open their campaign against Group D opponents Scotland at The Oval on Monday, followed by New Zealand at Lord's on 9 June.
"We have an exciting squad with pace, swing and spin in the bowling department and plenty of depth to our batting," Smith said.
We're very much dark horses and hopefully that will give the boys a bit more of a licence
England captain Paul Collingwood
"In terms of talent, flair and confidence, this is the strongest Proteas team that I have captained."
He added: "We are very well balanced both in terms of youth and experience and in terms of having all our bases covered regardless of whether the conditions favour swing or spin.
"Most international cricketers have not played a lot of international Twenty20 cricket to date and the 14 matches in the recent Indian Premier League has given them the chance to formulate new ideas and plans for this format of the game."
Australia's challenge was dealt a huge blow on Friday when it was announced that all-rounder and big-hitter Andrew Symonds would be returning home because of an "alcohol-related incident".
However, captain Ricky Ponting believes his side have enough strength in depth to cope with the loss
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