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It is anybody's game in the Twenty20 version of cricket. Nobody gave the Deccan Chargers or the other finalist Royal Challengers Bangalore a chance to get anywhere near the Indian Premier League (IPL) final.
Finishing last in the inaugural IPL last year, Deccan Chargers lived up to their name and simply left everyone on the wayside to lift the trophy.
So defending champions India will start as favourities in the Twenty20 World Cup which begins in England on Friday.
India can't complain. They have everything at their beck and call - a top class batting line-up, excellent bowlers and above all an innovative and inspirational captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are among the best openers in the world in any form of the game.
The middle-order comprising Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and the skipper himself is potent and ready to explode at any given time.
And there are great finishers like the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, who can hit the ball long and hard.
The bowling of Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, R P Singh and Pragyan Ojha proved effective in the IPL and there is no reason why they cannot perform on the big stage.
Still, there is a slight worry. Some of the top batsmen like Gambhir, Yuvraj and Sehwag did not perform as well as they were capable of in the IPL.
The seaming conditions in England will not be ideal for getting into good form. Dhoni will be slightly worried about that.
Fortunately, younger players like Sharma and Raina had a great IPL and Dhoni will have them to fall upon.
There are other teams who will be in the reckoning, premier among them South Africa. The Proteas are experienced in Twenty20 and will be India's biggest threat, that is, if they don't choke, as they are wont to do.
A B DeVilliers was in sizzling form in the IPL while Herschelle Gibbs played a key role for the Deccan Chargers throughout the event.
Even the usually stroke-shy Jacques Kallis is enjoying himself in the Twenty20 and this will be a bonus for the team.
England will miss Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff who is once again out due to injury. So the team will bank on home advantage to get ahead in the tournament.
New Zealand will be the dark horse of the World Cup. They have in Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor two of the best players in Twenty20.
Others like Jacob Oram and Jesse Ryder are great hitters of the cricket ball and skipper Daniel Vettori is a mean bowler in any form of the game.
However, as the Deccan Chargers proved any of the other teams could win the day and win the tournament.
That is the beauty of this bash-dash form of entertainment.
