It Certainly Is An India vs England Final At World Cup, Predicts Sunil Gavaskar

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar believes India and hosts England will fight it out in the final of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019. The much-awaited World Cup will get underway on May 30 with England taking on South Africa in the tournament-opener while India will open their account against the Proteas on June 5. Both India and England are the firm favourites to lay their hands on the trophy.

England and India are currently number one and two respectively in the ICC ODI rankings.  England have totally reinvented themselves since being eliminated in the group stages of the 2015 World Cup. They have won nine one-day international series in a row and are looking set to win the ongoing series against Windies too. The Eoin-Morgan led side has won 14 out of 17 series it has played since the 2015 World Cup.

India, on the other hand, continue to be force to reckon with in the 50-over format. In the last one year or so, they won ODI series in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in addition to winning the Asia Cup. In 2017, they had also made it to the final of the Champions Trophy.

“It certainly is an India vs England final. I think the best thing for Virat is that he has got MS Dhoni around him – Virat has to be in the deep. From the deep, it’s not always possible.. that’s when MSD comes into play. That is Virat’s biggest plus,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.

“He has got a bowling attack which can take wickets in any kind of conditions. 390 is not going to happen with this Indian bowling attack. All-round, the team that has got, is the team that is being moulded by MSK Prasad and his co-selectors,” he added.

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, however, feels the World Cup is going to be a three-horse race between India, hosts England and Australia.

“Three-horse race. Australia should be there. India and England. They feel the home pressure and that gives Australia and India a great chance,” Hayden said.

Australia are the defending champions. However, the record five-time world champions have not won a bilateral ODI series since the win over Pakistan at home in early 2017.