ODI World Cup 2023: Former England captain terms India as favourites for title, but says, 'they are not...'

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has lamented India as the favourites to win the upcoming ODI World Cup as the Men in Blue prepare for the showpiece event in their own backyard. However, Hussain claims Rohit Sharma’s men won’t be the clear favourites as other teams could resist them from clinching the title. India are currently enjoying top form and will play in the final of the Asia Cup on Sunday, September 17 against Sri Lanka.

Hussain laments India favourites

"They're favorites but they're not clear favorites because of the amount of quality sides there are. If you look at their squad, they have two of the greatest white ball batters to ever play the game, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. They have a potential future great in Shubman Gill and Bumrah coming back is fantastic news. So if you look at their batting and bowling, it's right up there among one of the best squads,” Hussain said while in conversation with Sky Sports.

The Indian team has been in fine form in the build-up to the tournament while they prepare for the Asia Cup final. The Men in Blue will have home advantage to their aid with sights on 2011 glory when they clinched the title. The likes of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli have been in great touch while KL Rahul also made his return to the circuit with a fine hundred against Pakistan in the Super Four contest last Sunday.

Hussian though pinpointed one drawback from the side as batters are unable to contribute with the ball while the same goes vice-versa. In contrast, the Indian team in 2011 had Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag as bowling options while the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin contributed with the bat.

"An area where they lack is if you look at the batters, they don't bowl and the bowlers don't bat. So the side has a different make-up to England and Australia with all the all-rounders," said Hussain.

India’s journey at World Cup

India have never failed to reach the semifinals of the World Cup whenever it has been held in the sub-continent. Rohit Sharma’s men will start their campaign against Australia on Sunday, October 8 while they will play Hussain’s former side England in the warm-ups on Saturday, September 30. The two will meet again in the league stage of the tournament on Sunday, October 29 in Lucknow.

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