Despite sealing a 2-0 T20I series victory over arch-rivals Australia on October 14, England captain Jos Buttler says the home side remains favourites to retain the T20 World Cup trophy.

Speaking after the third T20I was washed out, Buttler was quick to point out how ‘unpredictable’ the game's shortest format can be with home teams often ending up on the right side of the result.

“T20 is a kind of like video games that may be unpredictable, however, I feel historical past tells you that, usually, the host nation are slight favourites in large tournaments,” Buttler said in Melbourne.

“Many people have travelled and played in Australia and know the circumstances, however, no one is going to know the conditions or be as accustomed to them as the Australian team.

“They are also reigning champions, so you have to pick them out probably as favourites for the tournaments.”

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England played Australia in a three-match T20I series in which the final game was washed out, ending with no result. The Three Lions were in dominant form through the series, winning the first two matches to seal a 2-0 win.

Speaking after the washed-out encounter, Australia captain Aaron Finch pointed out that the squad seems a little ‘tired’ after a long time on tour.

"I think the guys are probably a little bit tired at the moment,” said Finch who fell for a first-ball duck in the game.

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“The schedule has been so packed over the last six to eight weeks that we identified a couple of months ago that we wanted to make sure that we’re in a position to be peaking at the right time of the World Cup and not beforehand.

“So, it should be vital over the next couple of days to freshen everybody up as a lot as much as we can.”

Australia have played eight games in the last 26 days, with three of them in India. They now have a couple of days rest before taking on India in an unofficial warm-up match on October 17 at The Gabba.

Both Australia and England open their World Cup campaigns in the Super 12 phase on October 22. Australia will take on New Zealand in a repeat of last year's T20 World Cup Final while England lock horns with Afghanistan.

The Qualifying stage of the World Cup takes off tomorrow, October 16, with Sri Lanka facing off against Namibia and Netherlands playing UAE. You can check out the complete list of fixtures with India timings here.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)