Sunil Gavaskar leaves out India as he names favourites to win ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted the importance of warm-up games before a big tournament.

India’s 1983 World Cup winner, opening batter Sunil Gavaskar, omitted India from his list of favourites to win the title. 10 teams will go against each other in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India to get cricket's most prestigious prize in their cabinet. Indians are hoping that their 10-years-long wait for an ICC title will come to an end in the next 40–50 days.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar gave some reality check to Indian fans before their campaign begins at the mega event. Gavaskar has rated English team very highly in the tournament. He feels that England’s batting and bowling talent is good enough for them to go on and win their third World Cup title in history. England are the current champions of the 50-overs World Cup as well in T20I format. England won the T20I World Cup in Australia last year.

Sunil Gavaskar picks England as favourites

When asked about the top tournament favourites, Sunil Gavaskar replied, “The defending champions, England, because of the kind of talent that they have, at the top order, the batting order, they have got two or three world-class all-rounders who can change the game with both bat and ball. They have also got a very good bowling line-up, an experienced bowling line-up.” England have been the most improved side in World Cricket in limited-overs format in recent years.

Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted the importance of team bonding and warm-up games before a tournament like the World Cup. He said, "It affects us massively because, when you talk about 1983, we played two games against the minor counties; we lost both of these games, but there was so much to learn from both of these games. Mind you, that was early June, towards the end of May specifically, and it was really cold, the pitches were green, and the ball was seaming around. It gives us a lot to think about."

India’s opening warm-up fixture against England was a complete washout in Guwahati, and they are not left with only one opportunity before they begin their World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai. Team India will be playing their second and final warm-up game against Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on October 3. England will be playing in the curtain-raiser against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5.