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‘India and Pakistan are not favourites to win the 2023 ODI World Cup’: Kumar Sangakkara

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India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are not favourites to lift the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be played in October and November.

Speaking on a Star Sports show, Kumar Sangakkara said that cricket has changed with the overseas nations learning how to play spin, which was not the case 10 years back.

“I think cricket has changed a lot since 2011, and now Asian conditions don’t only favour the subcontinental players. But over the years, I think England, Australia, and New Zealand have learned how to counter spin conditions better than the subcontinental sides,” Sangakkara explained.

Glenn Maxwell and Jonny Bairstow have a lot of ways to play spinners and are better players than the sub-continent cricketers.

“Reverse sweeps, paddle shots and sweeps are the new strokes. IPL has helped a lot,” Sangakkara said on Star Sports.

Sangakkara also said that the main players of the India national cricket team shouldn’t miss a single ODI game until the 2023 World Cup.

“ODI World Cup year is important, and the players should focus on the one-day internationals.”

SKY
 
Agreeable. It seems Harry Brooks or Ben Stokes have a better sweep shot than Babar Azam.

Very good point.
 
India has spin bashers in domestic. But they won't be selected because of guys like Kohli, Rohit, KL Rahul. He cleverly left out Sri Lanka. After India put up a total of 162 he said something like this total will be piece of cake for Sri lanka. But he had to eat his own words.
 
India has spin bashers in domestic. But they won't be selected because of guys like Kohli, Rohit, KL Rahul. He cleverly left out Sri Lanka. After India put up a total of 162 he said something like this total will be piece of cake for Sri lanka. But he had to eat his own words.

These guys are known as good players of pace and bounce. Yet they were poor in Australia. It is time we consider Iyer, Pant, kishan as integral member of 11 too.
 
Wickets will be flat and matches would be D/N mostly. Specialist darters will be the only ones effective if anything. India do not have hitters against darters and neither the bowling to take pitch out of the equation on flat pitches or dewy conditions. Any spinning pitch, the SENA teams will crumble if there is no dew.

In short, SENA teams are favourites not because of their spin playing prowess but the availability of non spinning conditions.
 
Wickets will be flat and matches would be D/N mostly. Specialist darters will be the only ones effective if anything. India do not have hitters against darters and neither the bowling to take pitch out of the equation on flat pitches or dewy conditions. Any spinning pitch, the SENA teams will crumble if there is no dew.

In short, SENA teams are favourites not because of their spin playing prowess but the availability of non spinning conditions.

India is not an alien condition anymore. All the key global players will feel right at home. David Miller knows every angles of every ground.
 
No they are not. The Aussies will win it from where I am. Both Pak and Bharat look rather weak to me at the moment.
 
India is not an alien condition anymore. All the key global players will feel right at home. David Miller knows every angles of every ground.

Not on spinning pitches. If at all they are available and no dew as well. Exact reason why Bangladesh are hard to beat at home.
 
England will be favorites imo,

If Harry Brook establishes himself and Ben Stokes makes a comeback
 
It's a harsh truth, India has regressed a lot. Previously we were bad against swing, now we are equally bad against spin. We play 1990 mode ODI, with players long past their prime, no strike bowlers.
 
Pakistan have better chance than India. They are the favourites alongwith England
 
Pakistan has a settled top order (top 4) which can benefit pakistan batting a lot.
We always lose because of our bowling in big matches
 
Agreeable. It seems Harry Brooks or Ben Stokes have a better sweep shot than Babar Azam.

Very good point.

Babar hardly ever plays sweep. England players with their exceptional bat speeds and sweep will be real hard to contain.
 
India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are not favourites to lift the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be played in October and November.

Speaking on a Star Sports show, Kumar Sangakkara said that cricket has changed with the overseas nations learning how to play spin, which was not the case 10 years back.

“I think cricket has changed a lot since 2011, and now Asian conditions don’t only favour the subcontinental players. But over the years, I think England, Australia, and New Zealand have learned how to counter spin conditions better than the subcontinental sides,” Sangakkara explained.

Glenn Maxwell and Jonny Bairstow have a lot of ways to play spinners and are better players than the sub-continent cricketers.

“Reverse sweeps, paddle shots and sweeps are the new strokes. IPL has helped a lot,” Sangakkara said on Star Sports.

Sangakkara also said that the main players of the India national cricket team shouldn’t miss a single ODI game until the 2023 World Cup.

“ODI World Cup year is important, and the players should focus on the one-day internationals.”

SKY

Sanga is right. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are not the favourites. It will be won by Bangladesh. Put your mortagage on it. Anything short of making the finals of this ODI World Cup will be considered as a failure in Bangladesh with the ODI team and form Bangladesh are in. You are reading it here first. 😎
 
Not on spinning pitches. If at all they are available and no dew as well. Exact reason why Bangladesh are hard to beat at home.

On spinning pitches even we struggle. May not be against SA. But sure will against Sodhi and Santner as usual. D we face them?
 
100% sanga both teams **** there pants under pressure unless they’re playing HK in a dead rubber.

Aus v Eng final.. gone are the days when non Asian teams use to be clueless in sub continent.
 
Gap will be less is what i am saying. On roads, better surrender.

It was the case even in 2011 world cup. India scored 331. England tied. Same way ENgland scored 320 odd, Ireland hunted down the target. There was a match where India scored 414. SL reached 411. If your spin attack is good we are going to be good. Someone who can stifle opposition in middle overs. That is where Kuldeep will play a major role. Hope they give him enough confidence.
 
India has won 16 out of last 18 Bilateral series at home in the last 9 years. (since 2013). India is in transition phase now. So i don't expect the domination to continue.
 
India has won 16 out of last 18 Bilateral series at home in the last 9 years. (since 2013). India is in transition phase now. So i don't expect the domination to continue.

Do you mean odi series? I doubt anyone remembers even one of those 16 bilateral series, baring indian cricketers and some stupid fans no one cares about those bilateral victories won against teams who never send their full strength teams.
 
England are the favourites to win because of their mindset, fearless attitude, excellent coaching staff and having a team for all conditions.

They have built a solid squad by rotating players and increasing pool depth.

New Zealand and Aus will be there or there abouts.

For us picking the right squad followed by the right players for a particular game will be key.

Getting the right coaching staff and making rizwan or shadab captain will be key as well.
 
The days of packing team with spinners and bowling 30-35 overs of spin are gone.

Eng and Aus will enter the Worldcup with as good a spin attack as Ind or Pak

And the best spin attacks will be from Afg and SL. However they won't be able to ambush teams on spin alone
 
I'll pick England as favourites.

Yep guys like Ben Duckett and Harry Brookes have just made an already strong England into an unbeatable England. I am just struggling to find a weak link.
 
Don't know about Pakistan but India is definitely not. England & Australia are the favourites with New Zealand being the dark horses. Don't think any other team has the capability at the moment to win a major tournament. Things might change in the coming months but in the current scenario it does not look likely that either India or Pakistan can win a tournament.
 
Don't know about Pakistan but India is definitely not. England & Australia are the favourites with New Zealand being the dark horses. Don't think any other team has the capability at the moment to win a major tournament. Things might change in the coming months but in the current scenario it does not look likely that either India or Pakistan can win a tournament.

Miller, De Kock are superb on Indian pitches when in form. But after seeing them choke against Netherlands i am going to count them out.
 
Well yeah, England are the favourites. India, NZ & Australia are behind them with Pakistan maybe having the 5th best chance.
 
Do you mean odi series? I doubt anyone remembers even one of those 16 bilateral series, baring indian cricketers and some stupid fans no one cares about those bilateral victories won against teams who never send their full strength teams.

You are talking about T20. ODIs generally combine with Test series. So they use same team. Cummins has played 13 one dayers in India during that period. Warner, Finch, Smith have all played sizable number of matches. Same way with England Root, Kevin pietersen, Root, Buttler Morgan were regulars. Reason was Kohli, Dhawan, Rohit were monsters during most of this phase. Also Kuldeep and Chahahl were winning overseas series as well. Bumrah was in prime form. Now everyone is on their last legs.
 
India and Pakistan are definitely favourites chasing is a big factor in India. These pitches you can chase anything but some pitches like nagpur and Delhi can go into the defending teams favour as well. But india has hands down the best pitches to play white ball cricket on in the world after England.
 
India is always going to be hot favorites in those conditions. They also have players like Kohli and Rohit who have been dominating this format for a decade and would want to make a big statement before they end their careers. Add to that clutch players like Pandya, SKY and Jadeja. Iyer is definitely going to be in the mix. And their bowling will be one of the best in the tournament too if Bumrah and Shami are fit.

Pakistan has come a long way since the last World Cup. It's not at all an exaggeration to say that Pakistan is one of the best ODI teams in the world. Barring the 3-0 loss to England C, there have been very few missteps for them in the last few years. Babar is comfortably the best ODI batter in the world and that Top 3 is rock solid. We've already seen what a pace-attack comprising of Shaheen, Rauf and Naseem is capable of and Shadab and Nawaz add so much with their all-round abilities. Especially in Asia since they both play spin well too. The only thing that needs to be nailed down is the middle-order.

I think India, Pakistan and England will be the favorites going into this World Cup. They have the most balanced line-ups.

New Zealand will be dark horses. And as good as Australia tend to be, their sides also tend to lack balance and they are awful at playing spin. Maybe that will change with the addition of Cameron Green, we'll see. But right now India, Pakistan and England look like the best sides going into the World Cup.
 
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I agree. Can't look past England for favourites.

India don't have the team and Pakistan aren't even guarantee to travel.
 
India are done without Kohli. It depends on the team that travel to India.
 
As for Pak, they have come up by leaps and bounds in ODIs during last few years. Now they can chase any total.
 
WC is in winter this time. Start of indian cricket season. Pitches will be fresh. Less chance of grip and spin.

So what ever advantage SC teams had on slow spinning tracks will not be there.

Another will be the dew factor. So no reverse and less help for spinners.
 
Pakistan has more chance than India. Very consistent and in form top 3 and a very good LOI bowling attack. Only worry would be if they get involved in slogfest on a flat track against SENA.
 
This thread will come back to real life when india and pakistan both qualify for the semis
 
Pakistan need to find an right arm off-spinner to compete with top teams. Need to give Agha Salman more games and Saqlain is simply doing nothing as coach. If he is half good as Saqlain then could be the Jadeja or Axar of Pak
 
India is definitely a favourite, its laughable to say they aren't. Not only are they a strong team with strength in all departments, they have the backing of a large and very hostile home support.

I agree with his verdict on Pakistan and Sri Lanka though both could be dark horses.
 
If pakistan play the right team , they will make the semis at least.

Their middle order is still non-existent , been 4 years now ever since MA was fired. Thanks to the hypocrite who grabbed his seat forcefully made sure this team has no middle order, by playing KIA , Danish Aziz, not playing Haider Ali regularly when he was in red hot form who is now a slogger.
 
Ind will make the SF and have a good chance to win if Bumrah is fit and they don't lose their nerve. PK on the otherhand need to find guys that will stand up if Babar is out of form. Our fast bowling will be amongst the top 3 in the tournament and a SF will be a success
 
India will make the semi finals, Pakistan will flop if Babar remains captain. Imam and Babar will get lots of soft runs during tournament and bottle it when pressure time comes along.
 
Indian players will under too much pressure from the huge number of followers and won't make the final , not a bad team but not great either .

Pakistan's would be an average team with a below average captain , assuming Babar remains as captain .

SL improving , will perform better than Pakistan in WC, but not likely to go all the way.
 
I’d much rather people underestimate the team than overestimate. Less pressure :afridi
 
Pakistan seems to have all bases covered. After England, they seem to be most in form ODI team in world.
 
WC is in winter this time. Start of indian cricket season. Pitches will be fresh. Less chance of grip and spin.

So what ever advantage SC teams had on slow spinning tracks will not be there.

Another will be the dew factor. So no reverse and less help for spinners.

The fact that the World Cup is in winter means that there will be less chance of dew. Cold weather prevents the formation of dew.
 
Pakistan need to find an right arm off-spinner to compete with top teams. Need to give Agha Salman more games and Saqlain is simply doing nothing as coach. If he is half good as Saqlain then could be the Jadeja or Axar of Pak

We already have a Jadeja/Axar. His name is Mohammad Nawaz.
 
The fact that the World Cup is in winter means that there will be less chance of dew. Cold weather prevents the formation of dew.

Isn't it the other way round? Anyway, this is winter and there is dew in the current Ind - SL match
 
Pakistan's ODI bowling attack, without Shaheen or Shadab, are looking very comfortable and dominant in Asian conditions.
 
Gautam Gambhir

“We should not forget that India had lost its last ODI series against Bangladesh. We have forgotten about it. Yes, individual brilliance is important, individual hundreds are important, it looks very nice when it comes to your record that you got your 50 hundreds or 100 hundreds, but you should never forget what has happened in Bangladesh. Because that is got to be a huge learning"

“India's full strength losing to Bangladesh in Bangladesh, I think we should grow from there rather than focussing only on this series. What has happened in the past should not be forgotten"
 
Not sure Pakistan will make semis. A lot will depend on how Shaheen pulls up.

So far, I'd go - England, India, Australia and then it's between NZ and Pakistan though I'm leaning towards NZ. India can certainly get better than they are now but that will need tough decisions which the TM won't take.

Semifinal exit for India once again. Pakistan to exit before semis .
 
Not sure Pakistan will make semis. A lot will depend on how Shaheen pulls up.

So far, I'd go - England, India, Australia and then it's between NZ and Pakistan though I'm leaning towards NZ. India can certainly get better than they are now but that will need tough decisions which the TM won't take.

Semifinal exit for India once again. Pakistan to exit before semis .


Pakistan will make it to semis somehow
 
Not sure Pakistan will make semis. A lot will depend on how Shaheen pulls up.

So far, I'd go - England, India, Australia and then it's between NZ and Pakistan though I'm leaning towards NZ. India can certainly get better than they are now but that will need tough decisions which the TM won't take.

Semifinal exit for India once again. Pakistan to exit before semis .

Pakistan will make Semi final if Shaheen and Shadab are fit.
 
India are definitely favourites to lift the Trophy
 
Asif Iqbal on Pakistan's ODI World Cup prep and chances:

“New Zealand played better cricket than Pakistan; the visitors adapted to the playing conditions, which were alien to them, more effectively than the host team,” former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal told Dawn.

“Teams winning away series against good opponents means they are better than the home side"

“Overall, Pakistan have played well in recent limited-overs cricket, including the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia where they reached the final but losing series on home turf is worrying.”
 
Aamir Sohail on Pakistan's chances

“Pakistan’s bowlers definitely have to improve more to get themselves ready for batter-friendly tracks in India where most pitches generally produce ODI totals in the range of 300-330. Our team should plan to enable the bowlers to restrict the opposition to around 270-280"

“Similarly, [when batting first] our batters should eye a higher than [the] average totals of 300-plus that can give our bowlers room to put pressure on the opposition.”
 
India are big favourites. They look imperious with barely any weakness. Only England or Australia can cause them problems in a semi or final. Otherwise they should win this one comfortably. They need to get over the ICC silverware curse I think they will do it this time.
 
India are favourites to win this world cup. Pakistan on the other hand relies heavily on Babar and Shaheen.

Some indian fans as usual are trying hard to downplay Indian team. It's like ignoring a big fat elephant in the room. :inti
 
India will win the WC, and anyone who thinks otherwise needs to remind themselves how BCCI gifted the WC to Tendulkar in 2011 as a thank you for his services to India, you can bet BCCI will do the same for Kohli!
 
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