Aakash Chopra Predicts World Cup 2023 Finalists

Aakash Chopra has predicted that India and Australia will win their respective semi-final encounters and will face each other in the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

]The Men in Blue will lock horns with the Black Caps in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, November 15. The Aussies on the other hand will square off against South Africa in the other semi-final clash a day later at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Aakash Chopra is of the opinion that Pat Cummins-led Australia are the favorites against the Proteas. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, he predicted a repeat of the 2003 World Cup final, saying, “South Africa and Australia are at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. That match will be at the Eden Gardens. Whichever way I see it, although Australia lost to South Africa in Lucknow, here I feel the scales are tilted towards Australia.”

The former India opener added, “Australia’s bowling is still looking weak to me. To be fair, it’s not looking the same bowling attack, but rule them out at your own peril. There is a good chance – India vs Australia on the 19th at the Narendra Modi Stadium. There are extremely bright chances of all this happening.”

India and Australia are two of the most decorated teams in World Cup history. While Australia has won the title for a record five times, India have lifted the trophy on two occasions. They tie with West Indies for the joint-second-most World Cup titles.

Aakash Chopra Praises Mitchell Marsh For His Innings Against Bangladesh

Reflecting on Australia’s big win in their final round-robin league game against Bangladesh, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Mitchell Marsh was virtually toying with the Bangla Tigers all around the park. He said, “Australia has demolished Bangladesh. They opted to bowl first after winning the toss, didn’t play Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell, and played Steve Smith. They conceded a lot of runs but after that, a storm named Mitchell Marsh came.”

Aakash Chopra shared his observation that the big-hitting all-rounder helped Australia chase down a challenging target of 307 quite easily. He elaborated, “He destroyed them. David Warner and Steve Smith also scored fifties but if someone scores more than 175, you say he has hit a lot. He hit nine sixes and 17 fours. If you chase 307 runs in 44.4 overs, it means you have done an amazing job.”

Bangladesh posted a total of 306/8 in their fifty overs with Towhid Hridoy scoring 74 off 79 balls. However, Australia on the back of half-centuries by Steve Smith and David Warner and a stunning innings of 177 runs in 132 balls by Mitchell Marsh, defeated Bangladesh quite easily. Marsh’s innings constituted of 17 fours and nine sixes.