Balance makes India favourites: Tendulkar

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Singapore: An explosive batting order, effective bowling unit and the presence of world-class players make India a formidable force and there is no reason why they cannot defend the title in next month's ICC World Twenty20 Championship in England, feels Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar, who was here on a promotional programme, said the Indian team looked absolutely balanced and he was optimistic that they would defend the title they had won in 2007.

"I've full confidence in the team. It's a solid team that has got explosive batsmen and some wonderful bowlers in their attack which looks fantastic," Tendulkar gushed. "The team has got some world class players as well."

Despite having a star-studded line-up, openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's inconsistency has been a reason to worry for the team management but Tendulkar did not sound too perturbed.

"Form can sometimes go down and you may not play well at times. But I believe a world-class player is always a threat to the opposition and I'm really glad that we have so many world-class players in the side," Tendulkar said.

Even though purists tend to dismiss Twenty20 as just slam-bang cricket, Tendulkar begged to differ and said it augured well for the game. "I think it is good for cricket. It generates interest in areas where we don't have major tournaments. It's fast, exciting and you know the result within three hours.

"It's exciting for someone who has just started watching cricket. Maybe it would help him to subsequently graduate to watching ODIs and Test matches as well. That's why I feel it's good for cricket," Tendulkar explained.