Though Australia is the three-time defending champion and the likes of Pakistan, South Africa and England will expect to do well, the captains of the three home nations are all in confident mood.
"Playing at home is great," Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara said as he and his teammates prepared for the tournament, which opens Saturday with a match between India and Bangladesh in Dhaka.
"We are playing our league (group) games at home and once you reach the quarterfinals, you are only two matches away from playing the final," he said.
Their familiarity with the slow pitches means that South Asian teams have done well on both occasions when the World Cup was hosted on the subcontinent. Co-hosts India and Pakistan both reached the semifinals in 1987 and Sri Lanka won as co-hosts in 1996 after eliminating India in the semifinals.
Like Sangakkara, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al-Hasan is also looking forward to playing in front of his own people in the weeks ahead.
"We have had good preparations, are under no pressure to perform, and hope to do well on home grounds," the allrounder said.
Expectations are particularly high in India, which is tipped as one of the favourites to lift the trophy on home soil in Mumbai on April 2. Some even fear that the pressure to succeed might affect the team's performance as it tries to become a world champion again for the first time since 1983.
It was not a view that cut any ice, though, with India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"The appreciation or criticism that you get is all part and parcel of the game," Dhoni said, adding that other teams also had a chance of lifting the cup.
"It is all about who is going to be consistent toward the end of the tournament."
He also highlighted the fact that teams also had time, which could range from three or four days to more than a week, to regroup between matches.
"It is an open tournament and all teams are looking to be in good nick. The format is also such that teams can recover," said the skipper, who led India to triumph in the inaugural World Twenty20 championship in South Africa in 2007.
India and Bangladesh are drawn in Group B, while Sri Lanka is in Group A.
Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press.
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