Lara, who quit international cricket two years ago, said both Asian countries were more adept at batting on flat wickets thus giving them the advantage in the batsman-friendly form of the game.

The record holder for the highest Test and first class scores was speaking after displaying the Twenty20 World Cup trophy to the packed Queen’s Park Oval crowed, prior to the start of Sunday’s Twenty20 International between England and West Indies.

“It was a great feeling to pick up the trophy before the winning captain and nice to be part of the build-up but, as for picking a winner, it’s very hard to predict as in Twenty20 cricket you never know what will happen,” said the 39-year-old cricket star.

“In 2007, I supported the West Indies due to the fact that, as a team, we may have been short in Test cricket but very good over a shorter game and Twenty20 was a version of the game, with players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, I thought we would love.

“But then Bangladesh came and beat us and we didn’t win a match so that shows how difficult it is to predict. A team like India or Pakistan, accustomed to good batting tracks, flat tracks and capable of being very innovative could be the ones to walk away with the trophy,” added Lara.

The Twenty20 World Cup is poised to bowl off later his year in England on June 5, involving 12 teams spread across four groups.

Defending champions India have been grouped with minnows Bangladesh and Ireland while West Indies have drawn a tough pair in Australia and Sri Lanka.

Lara, who ended with 11 953 runs from 131 Tests, said the Twenty20 phenomenon was a fine addition to the modern game.

“I’m still a connoisseur of Test cricket as the true test of any sportsman,” he said.

“But I think Twenty20 cricket is a great invention, especially for the spectator. It’s a great addition to the game and I look forward to seeing the ICC World Twenty20.