London (PTI): Defending champions India and South Africa boast of an upper hand in the ICC World Twenty20 Championships, beginning later this week here, owing to the presence of left-handers in majority in their teams, according to statistics.
Both India and South Africa have eight left-handed specialists in their squad of 15 which leaves their right-handed brethrens in the minority.
History shows that left-handed cricketers have unfailingly ruled the roost in this treacherous format, be it the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the first edition of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007.
The recent IPL was topped by Matthew Hayden (572 runs) and Adam Gilchrist (495) with Suresh Raina (434) at number four, not much behind to AB de Villiers (465).
As for bowling, RP Singh (23 wickets), Ashish Nehra (19) and Pragyan Ojha (18) took three spots among the top five bowlers.
The first IPL, if anything, was still more startling. The first three toppers were all left-handers: Stuart Marsh (616), Gautam Gambhir (534) and Sanath Jayasuirya (514) all proved the scourge of bowlers.
Pakistan's Sohail Tanvir (22 wickets) was the leading wicket-taker of the inaugural IPL.
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