Over the last few weeks of IPL, sport fans are being treated to another spectacle as the cricketing world heads into into the ICC World T20 in the West Indies.

The tournament kicks off next Friday, 30 April, with New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka which could prove to be a cracker!

The format starts off in four groups of 3 teams each.
Group A: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia
I can only see Pakistan and Australia getting through the group with Australia topping the group.

Group B: Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe
I'd love to see Zimbabwe being able to edge out New Zealand, but I think reality will kick in and stop that idea in its tracks. Sri Lanka to finish top.

Group C: South Africa, India, Afghanistan
This isn't a tough one, and I actually see India topping the group with the South Africans coming in second.

Group D: West Indies, England, Ireland
Ireland produced a really good performance last time out, but I think with West Indies on home soil, and England fairly strong, they won't make the 8's this time around. West Indies ending tops.

It then goes into the Super 8's. My prediction puts the following teams in Group E:
Australia, New Zealand, India, West Indies

and then Group F:
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, England

They play each other in a round robin format, and the top 2 head straight into the semi-finals. My pick puts up India and Sri Lanka in one semi and South Africa vs New Zealand in the other. I have a hunch that NZ are going to edge out Australia. Both these matches see big rivalries coming to the fore.

My finalists prediction will have India vs South Africa with SA finally winning their first world title ;)

There is a lot of concentration spent on the batter as that's where most of the entertainment comes from, but the bowlers, if brutal, play just as big a role. And we all know about how fielding can get a crowd going. The big names to look out for:

Jacques Kallis - After his very successful in the IPL, he's likely to keep up the good form with both the bath and ball.

Kevin Pieterson - The yes or no man. He's either going to be sublime, or absolutely average.

AB de Villiers - AB is a great batter who's able to adjust to all forms of the game

Kieron Pollard - Really proved himself in the year's IPL. Will definitely be one to watch both the bat and ball in hand.

Shahid Afridi - The bomb waiting to explode, and it could go either way with biting the ball to smashing huge scores.

Brendon McCullum - McCullum hit a century in his first IPL match and is a constant threat.

Murali Vijay - A late entry after Sehwag's exclusion, I think he's going to do a great job with both the bat and ball

Dan Vettori - Undoubtably one of the better T20 bowlers. His record speaks for itself.

Graeme Smith - The influential SA captain is fresh and should be full of runs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - MS had to develop his game for ODI and Test cricket, but he's very much at home with the bat when he's trying to slog it out the park

So there's my opinion for the next few weeks. There are a few warm up matches in the coming week that may help show us a little more into the sides, but in all honesty, it's T20, anything can happen!