Australian legend Shane Warne has backed England to win the World Cup trophy for the first time in the history. Apart from naming England as the clear favourites, he also said that India, Australia and West Indies are other teams who will make it to the top four of the tournament.
“England look like clear favourites and will be very hard to touch in this World Cup. India and Australia are the only two teams that come close to them on a regular basis really. West Indies will sneak in. It will be England, India, Australia and West Indies [in the semi-finals],” Warne said.
Many former cricketers have backed England to win the trophy for the first time ever due to numerous reasons. First of all, they have the home advantage. The tournament is being played in England and Wales after 20 years.
Secondly, England have been the best team in ODI cricket in the past four years. They have registered 300+ scores on most occasions in past couple of years. The opening pair of Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy have totally changed the batting method in ODI format and the pair likes to go after bowlers right from the word go.
This has seen England post high scores in the past couple of years, which has totally changed the mindset of other teams as well. In fact, there have been talks of teams scoring 500 during World Cup and many have backed England to be the team which can create this milestone.
However, the Three Lions suffered a blip in form as they lost their previous World Cup tie against Pakistan yesterday. Surprisingly, they failed to chase down a target of 349. The openers didn’t fire on the given day and England faced a defeat.
Though many believe that it was just one of the off days and the hosts will make a strong comeback in the tournament.
Warne also tipped David Warner to be player of the tournament and said, “I have tipped David Warner to be the Player of the Tournament. He’s got so much to prove and he looked good the other day [in Australia’s win over Afghanistan].”
Warner made his comeback to international cricket in World Cup and scored 89 right in his first outing as an international cricketer after over a year. The left-handed batsman seems to be a totally different batsman since making his return and as Warner said, he could be Player of the Tournament should he continue to bat like that.