ICC World Cup 2019: Brian Lara picks the team that could lift the trophy

Cricket analysts and commentators have been quite busy giving their views out on the possible semi-finalists for the World Cup 2019. While there have been different opinions, two teams that are common in most of the predictions are England and India. Former Windies skipper Brian Lara also shared his thoughts about these two teams. He even went a step further and picked the team whom he feels has got the best chance of lifting the World Cup.

In his analysis, Brian Lara felt that it is almost a certainty that England will be one of the semi-finalists. However, he doubts if they could go the distance. The left-hander has cited instances from the past and said that the England team tends to lose the big games. However, he didn’t rule their chances out completely and added that the team looks pretty solid.

“I feel like they are going to be in the semi-finals of the World Cup, I think that’s a certainty… (and) I don’t rule England out. (But) the records show that in all-important games, they walk away losers. England tend not to win things – finals – but they are a pretty solid team and they are going to be a big deal in the World Cup,” Lara said as quoted by Sportsmail.

Brian Lara thinks Windies are the dark horses

Lara has backed Virat Kohli and his men to lift the World Cup this year. He said that India is the best team in terms of ability to go through the tournament. The former cricketer also listed out a few points that make the Indian team special.

“I believe India might be the best team in terms of the ability to go throughout the tournament – the variation they have in their bowling, the outstanding batting they have so my pick will be that India will make it through to the final,” he said.

When asked about the Windies, he said: “I think potentially West Indies are the dark horses. They have amazing, talented players and they are not in my top four or most people’s top four. But if they get to the semi-finals, teams are going to be scared – they’re not an easy team to play against.”