Not India, Sunil Gavaskar PICKS This Team As Favourites To Win Cricket World Cup 2023

Gavaskar feels that defending champions England have an all-round side which can do well in Indian conditions as well. He feels England are favourites to win the trophy for the second time.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has picked his favourtes for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 and it is not India. The India batting great feels that Jos Buttler-led England will start as favourites to win the tournament. Not to forget, this World Cup is being played in India, giving the Men in Blue a slight edge over other teams. But it is also true that being host nation puts added pressure on te shoulders of Rohit Sharma and Co.

Gavaskar believes that England have an all-round side with all bases covered, from top-order batting to middle order to fast bowling to all-rounders, they look solid on paper. “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, experienced bowling line –up, so at the moment in my book certainly," Gavaskar told Star Sports.

On the other hand, former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan believes that India are one of the favourites to win the Cup. India enter the World Cup as the No 1 side in ICC's ODI rankings ahead of Babar Azam's Pakistan. Irfan thinks that wins in Asia Cup and the recently-concluded ODI series vs Australia keeps India in good stead ahead of the tournament.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, StarCast expert for ‘Mission World Cup’, Irfan Pathan has also named his World Cup favorites, he said, “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. 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.”