"Doesn't look like England have come here to win" - Sreesanth on defending champions' 2023 World Cup campaign
Former Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth recently shared his two cents on defending champion England's underwhelming campaign in the ongoing 2023 World Cup.
Questioning their preparation for the showpiece event, Sreesanth reckoned that Jos Buttler and company have not shown enough hunger to win. He mentioned that South Africa, on the other hand, gave England a taste of their own medicine by playing a fearless brand of cricket.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Sreesanth explained:
"It doesn't look like England have come here to win the World Cup. Right from their first match, it didn't seem as if they were prepared. That's how cricket is; they will learn."
"The fearless cricket that England talk about, South Africa played that kind of cricket and beat them," he continued. "The kind of cricket that South Africa are playing is admirable. They showed great intent. The last few overs were like a video game, as every ball was being hit for a four or a six."
Notably, England slumped to a humiliating 229-run defeat against South Africa in their most recent outing of the 2023 World Cup. With just one win from four games, they are currently languishing in eighth spot in the points table.
"I feel they can qualify for the final" - Sreesanth makes a huge claim on South Africa
Sreesanth feels that if South Africa can manage to continue their impressive run in the 2023 World Cup, they have a good chance of making it to the World Cup final.
The cricketer-turned-commentator, however, claimed that the Proteas could still struggle to get going on good pitches. Sreesanth added:
"South Africa have been named chokers by many. But they have already choked in this World Cup. It's good that they got that loss early. Historically, South Africa would win matches and then lose in the quarterfinal or semi-final.
"But I feel they can qualify for the final this time if they continue playing in this fashion. However, I would still say that they can play well on flat tracks, but we saw how they lost to the Netherlands on a good track."
South Africa have won four of their first five matches and are second in the standings. Their solitary loss came against the Netherlands, where they failed to chase down a 246-run target in 43 overs.