Caribbean clubbers Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard make the West Indies the big-ticket item of the World Twenty20 championship starting next week in Sr Lanka.

It shapes as a familiar sight for Australian fans, who have seen Gayle and Pollard strut their stuff in the Big Bash League.

But while the West Indies have been given the unofficial tag of favourites to win their first global cricket title in eight years, Australian bookmakers have India, South Africa, Australia and hosts Sri Lanka listed above them in what shapes as a wide-open tournament.

Defending champions England hold the ICC's current top ranking, although the non-selection of bad-boy Kevin Pietersen for showing disloyalty to former Test skipper Andrew Strauss will hurt Stuart Broad's side, who won the 2010 final with Pietersen claiming the player of the series award.

Australia are downplaying their shocking world ranking of ninth, after George Bailey's men completed a 2-1 series loss to Pakistan in Dubai earlier this week.

Most sides are expected to use spin as their trump card and a quick look at the ICC's bowling rankings shows why, along with the tradition of spin-friendly Sri Lankan pitches.

The top-ranked bowlers in the game are Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal, England's Graeme Swann, South Africa's Johan Botha, Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis, New Zealand's Nathan McCullum and Pakistan's Shahid Afridi.

As for the batsmen, Gayle is a massive point of interest for fans in general and the left-hander's aggressive style makes him the ultimate star performer.

Gayle doesn't feel he needs to carry the side and has warned rivals the Windies have a deep batting lineup which takes the heat off him to be the main man.

"I can go out there with a clear mind and play my game," Gayle says.

"There won't be too much pressure."

The Windies haven't claimed a major event since the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy.

"The favourite tag line does not guarantee us a place in the final," said captain Darren Sammy.

"We may have the best side on paper, but we have to pull all the resources together and win."

Gayle says he's not fooled by Australia's low ranking, pointing to their record of winning four one-day World Cups.

"Australia are known for the big stage," Gayle says.

Bailey hopes to put the rankings issue to bed very quickly.

"We're not proud of it," he said.

"I don't think we're embarrassed by it."

Asked about the underdog tag, Bailey says he doesn't care.

"If you think we're an underdog ... it has no bearing on what we do," Bailey told reporters.

"We haven't won this tournament. There's a very proud history in Australian cricket of having won everything.

"For us not to have won this tournament is something that we'd like to rectify."

STATISTICS ON THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD TWENTY20 CRICKET TOURNAMENT

* First staged in 2007 in South Africa, where MS Dhoni's India beat Adam Gilchrist's Australia side in the semis then India went on to defeat arch rivals Pakistan in the final

* Shahid Afridi was man of the match in the semi-final and final for winners Pakistan In 2009 in England after Ricky Ponting's Australia were eliminated in just three days, losing to West Indies and Sri Lanka

* In 2010 Michael Clarke's Australia lost the final to England in the West Indies

* The 2012 tournament contains four groups of three with two teams from each pool advancing to the Super Eights for three games each, followed by semi-finals on October 4 and 5 and the final on October 7

* Group A is India, England and Afghanistan who are likely to push Stuart Broad's defending champions England hard

* Group B is the talented West Indies lineup, ninth-ranked Australia and 10th-ranked Ireland who've declared they fear no other team and have recruited ex-Aussie bowling coach Craig McDermott to their staff

* Group C is South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe which could also throw up some tight contests

* Group D is the group of death with New Zealand and the inconsistent Pakistan facing the dangerous Bangladesh.

PLAYERS TO WATCH IN THE WORLD TWENTY20 CRICKET TOURNAMENT

Group A (world ranking in brackets)

England (1)

* Craig Kieswetter: in-form opener who was man of the match in the 2010 World T20 final against Australia

* Graeme Swann: charismatic offspinner ranked the No.2 bowler in the world

India (7)

* MS Dhoni: skipper and hard-hitting middle-order batsman

* Yuvraj Singh: plays a key role as fast-scoring batsman and part-time bowler as well as national hero after beating cancer

Afghanistan (no ranking)

* Karim Sadiq: offspinner who has a fine record of nine wickets of eight wickets at 21.25

* Mohammad Shahzad: stocky and chirpy wicketkeeper/batsman who smashed 77 against Ireland in 2012

Group B

West Indies (4)

* Chris Gayle: captain, master blaster and spinner who can destroy bowling attacks in a few overs

* Sunil Narine: one of the spinners expected to dominate this event, especially after killing them in the Indian Premier League with 24 wickets at 13.50

Australia (9)

* David Warner: ranked among the top four batsmen in T20 Internationals and his muscular hitting display with six sixes against Pakistan

* Shane Watson: star allrounder who opens with Warner and is the top-ranked pace bowler in T20s at No.7 behind six spinners

Ireland (10)

* George Dockrell: promising spinner at age 20 who poses a threat to Australia in their opening clash on September 19

* Kevin O'Brien: punishing batsman whose 50-ball hundred against England last year is a record for fastest century in one-day World Cup matches

Group C

South Africa (2)

* Hashim Amla: marvellous batsman with a fine technique and calm demeanour

* Jacques Kallis: veteran and fierce competitor who still has the allround game to be a world-beater

Sri Lanka (3)

* Tillakaratne Dilshan: one of the brightest stars of the ultra-short format, a man who invented the Dillscoop shot over the wicketkeeper's head during the 2009 World T20

* Ajantha Mendis: with 40 wickets at 11.12 in T20 Internationals and home pitches at his disposal, the mysterious spinner will have fans roaring his name

Zimbabwe (11)

* Prosper Utseya: offpsinner who will be a trump card for his side

* Ray Price: a crafty left-arm spinner who at 36 remains a big factor for Zimbabwe

Group D

New Zealand (5)

* Brendon McCullum: top-ranked batsman in T20 International cricket

* Nathan McCullum: match-winning offspinner who averages under 17

Pakistan (6)

* Saeed Ajmal: offspinner who's ranked the No.1 bowler in the game

* Shahid Afridi: one of the most exciting allrounders ever to take block

Bangladesh (8)

* Abdur Razzak: left-arm spinner who averages under 17 with the ball

* Shakib-Al-Hasan: also a left-arm spinner with prodigious talent.

- AAP