ICC World Cup 2019: Sunil Gavaskar names the possible semi-finalists of the tournament

England and Wales is all set to host the much awaited World Cup which will get underway on May 30. Top 10 teams in the world will fight it out for the glory in a round-robin format before the four semi-finalists face-off. The cricket experts are nowadays busy picking their favourite top four for the tournament and Sunil Gavaskar has also joined the list now.

Like everyone, the former Indian cricketer also feels that England and India are the two teams who will make it to the knockout stage. Both the teams are in amazing form over the last couple of years. While England have won almost all the bilateral ODI series, India have also done the same barring a series loss at the hands of Brits last year. Recently, they thrashed Australia and New Zealand in their own back yard.

“The strong favourites in the World Cup tournament are England. And it is not because of the fact that it will be a home World Cup for them. But because they have changed their attitude towards ODI cricket.

“The advantage that India have is they have played in England for two consecutive years – 2017 and 2018. So the players who will be part of the World Cup squad will be aware of the conditions and hence will be able to use their experience and probably India can use the factor to lift the World Cup,” Gavaskar said while talking to India Today.

Which are the other two teams?

Sunil Gavaskar felt that Pakistan and Australia could be the other two semi-finalists. He believed that the defending champions won’t let the World Cup go easily and the return of Steve Smith and David Warner will strengthen the side. However, he also felt that New Zealand can spring a surprise having played some attractive brand of cricket across the formats.

“Pakistan have always been a formidable side. And the Australian team will look strong with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner. So these four teams will be in the semifinals. New Zealand are also favourites because conditions in England are almost similar to theirs. So they can spring a surprise, but they have never gone ahead of semifinals as what I have seen,” the 69-year-old added.

[interaction id=”5c63ec1734b4f424f0a7ad58″]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.