Indian’s T20 cricket captain Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane pose with the ICC World Twenty20 trophy during the announcement of schedule in Mumbai.

For the first time since its inception in 2007, the World Twenty 20 will be staged in India. But some of India’s most prominent cricketers feel India will not benefit a great deal from home advantage for the event, which will be held in eight cities from March 8 to April 3.

Soon after the event was formally launched in a function attended by ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, chief executive David Richardson and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, three key batsmen across India’s teams — Test captain Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan — admitted India’s home advantage will be restricted due to the advent of the Indian Premier League.

“So many players from all around the world have played in the IPL for eight-nine years, so they are really familiar with the conditions,” Kohli said in a discussion with former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar.

“It’s not such a big home advantage anymore. Obviously we would like to cross the finishing line. Last time, I was really disappointed when we couldn’t close out the final. Any team can be dangerous given the format and the conditions.”

Rahane, fresh on the back of two hundreds in a Test match, agreed with his Test captain. “We have a better chance but every team is equally dangerous. Everyone knows the conditions. We respect every opposition,” Rahane said.

“Pakistan may not have played in India a lot but the conditions [it plays in] are a lot similar to that in India, so they won’t have any disadvantage.”

Dhawan stressed that considering the format, the team with “momentum” has a better chance of going all the way in the tournament.

While Kohli recalled how in 2007 he was thrilled to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni make his mark as a captain by leading a young Indian side to the title of the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa, Kohli hoped he would learn the art of “keeping composure” from Dhoni while leading the side.

Rahane may have been tagged as a conventional batsman but his strong showing in Twenty20, especially in the IPL, has proven his skills as an able batsman in the shortest format.

While Rahane stressed T20 cricket “comes naturally” to him, Kohli had an interesting take on Rahane’s batting. “Watching him closely over the last few years, one thing MS always says about him is the ball flows off his bat quicker than any other batsman. That’s the natural ability he has, timing and power, which not many people realise,” Kohli said.