India are No.1 ODI side, hard to look beyond them: Nasser Hussain puts his money on hosts to win CWC '23

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has backed Team India to win the CWC 2023 edition, which kicked off on Thursday (October 5) with the defending champions England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad. In the last three editions, the home side haswon the mega title. In the previous two World Cups, the team who entered the marquee event as the No. 1 ranked side went on to win the prestigious trophy. With India hosting the event and entering the competition as the No. 1 ranked side, they have everything going for them to win their third title in tournament history.

"It's hard to look beyond India. They're ranked No. 1 in the world, plus history tells you that playing at home is a huge advantage. England won it four years ago, Australia in 2015 when hosting, and India themselves back in 2011. They're also just a very good side with basically all bases covered. They'll be very hard to beat," Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.

India have had a good run in the format in the past few months. Having beaten West Indies in the three ODIsin the Caribbean island in July-August, Rohit & Co. went on to win the 50-over Asia Cup and clinchthe three-match ODI seriesat homeversus Australia 2-1 to complete their World Cup preparations on a high.

India's schedule at CWC '23

India vs Australia in Chennai on October 8
India vs Afghanistan in New Delhi on October 11
India vs Pakistan in Ahmedabad on October 14
India vs Bangladesh in Pune on October 19
India vs New Zealand in Dharamshala on October 22
India vs England in Lucknow on October 29
India vs Sri Lanka in Mumbai on November 02
India vs South Africa in Kolkata on November 05
India vs Netherlands in Bengaluru on November 12

India squad for CWC '23:Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav

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