Twenty20 World Cup: India favorites to win; MS Dhoni best at handling pressure, says Kumar Sangakkara

New Delhi: Former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara on Thursday backed India's ODI skipper MS Dhoni despite calls for his retirement from certain sections of the cricket fraternity.

Sangakkara, while speaking to the Times of India, said Dhoni was best at handling the immense pressure the comes from playing cricket in a country like India.

"Dhoni has been the longest-serving captain of a national team, where the game is considered a religion. I believe no one can understand the pressure of captaincy like Dhoni. So he knows it best when to give up on captaincy. And it is a dialogue which should happen between Dhoni and the selectors," he said.

Kumar also said that Kohli was ready to fill Dhoni's shoes, should the latter bring down the curtains on his career.

"Kohli is aggressive on the field but knows how to conduct himself. He looks ready for the job," he further added.

The 38-year-old termed India as the favorites to win the ICC World T20, as spin is expected to play a key role during the tournament.

India's spin bowling department includes Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Amit Mishra, making it one of the most potent attacks on tuning sub-continent wickets.

"Spin will be the key to winning matches in World T20.India will start as favorites. No one knows how to handle pressure better than Dhoni," said Kumar.

Sangakkara played a key role in denying India a second WorldT20 title in 2014.

The southpaw scored an unbeaten 52 off 35 balls in the final to help his side win the match by six wickets.