England’s 2019 World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan has backed Rohit Sharma-led India to attain glory in the eagerly-anticipated ICC event, slated to kickstart on October 5 in India. Morgan highlighted that the teams playing on their home soil would be the favourites as India clinched the title in 2011 as hosts, as did Australia in 2015 and England in 2019.
“England are a very good team. I will rate them second favourites after India but only just. India on home soil is the favourite and are a very good team. That’s been the case for the last few World Cups. India in 2011, Australia in 2015, England in 2019 and India again in 2023. But Jos Buttler and his team have some fantastic batsmen and bowlers and their talent will make a big difference come the business end of the tournament,” Morgan told RevSportz.
Notably, the defending champions will kickstart proceedings of the marquee event in a recap of the 2019 final against runners-up New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5. Meanwhile, the Men in Blue will go head-to-head against five-time winners Australia in their first match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on October 8.
In addition to England and hosts India, Morgan further backed the Aussies and Babar Azam-led Pakistan to feature in the final four of the big-ticket event, considering that they have ‘maximum depth and versatility’.
“If you ask to pick my top four, I will add Australia and Pakistan to the mix. With the matches spread across all parts of the country, it will be a real test and these four names have the maximum depth and versatility,” he added.
