Former Indian cricketer, Harbhajan Singh, shared his predictions for the upcoming ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in India.
While talking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan highlighted four teams as favorites to reach the semifinals and compete for the title.
His top four picks for the semifinals consist of Australia, India, England, and New Zealand. He based his choices on the strong performances of these teams in the previous edition of the tournament, suggesting a likelihood of them reaching the knockout stage again.
“I hope the match is closely contested (India vs. Australia). Whoever wins the game will become favourites to win the World Cup. Australia is also one of the contenders for the World Cup semifinals, India is another contender for the top four spots, and England is also a contender,” Harbhajan said.
Notably, he excluded Pakistan from his list of contenders for the semifinals, expressing his belief that Pakistan, despite being the number one ODI side, might not perform as strongly in the 50-over format.
“For the remaining one spot, people are saying Pakistan could advance to the semifinals but in the 50-over format, they are just average. They play good cricket in T20Is but my fourth pick would be New Zealand. (India, Australia, England, New Zealand) They are my four semifinalists for the World Cup,” Harbhajan concluded.
The 2023 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup is set to begin in India from October 5 to November 19, featuring ten teams.