Cricket fans around the world are eagerly waiting to witness the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023, which will kick-start from October 5. In the opening match, defending champions England will be squaring off against the first runners-up of the 2019 World Cup, New Zealand, in Ahmedabad. The host nation India will be taking on Australia in their campaign opener on October 8 in Chennai. Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has chosen England as his favourites to win the upcoming World Cup.
Gavaskar stated that the Jos Buttler-led side has got a terrific bowling line-up and also consists of three “world-class all-rounders” who can change the game.
“The defending champions, England, because of the kind of talent that they have at, at the top of the order, the batting order, they’ve got two or three world-class all-rounders who can change the game with both bat and ball. They’ve also got a very good bowling line-up, an experienced bowling line-up, so at the moment in my book certainly,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan backed Team India and stated that the hosts are are “ticking all the boxes” and are one of the favorites to lift the coveted ICC trophy.
“I’m very excited to see how India performs and I really think they are one of the favorites, for sure because especially last couple of series, like Asia Cup, and the way India played against Australia as well in the home conditions. I think they are ticking all the boxes,” said Pathan.
“They have players who are performing really well but you have a guy like Mohammed Shami, who’s not in the part of playing 11 consistently, who’s a world-class bowler itself, so it shows the kind of team India has and at the same time the bench strength India has,” he added.
Ahead of the World Cup, Team India will play their first warm-up match against England on Saturday in Guwahati.
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