"England and India are the two teams nobody else wants to face in a semi-final" - Michael Vaughan ahead of 2023 World Cup
Michael Vaughan suggested that defending champions England and India will be unbeatable if they reach the 2023 World Cup semifinals. While Vaughan believes India will continue the trend of the home team winning the World Cup, he reckons Rishabh Pant's absence is a massive blow.
India enter the 2023 World Cup as firm favourites and have momentum behind them. The Men in Blue won the Asia Cup 2023 by decimating Sri Lanka in the final and followed it by winning the bilateral ODI series over Australia.
In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan pointed out that India's lack of left-handers could hurt them, but feels they have world-class seamers. He said:
"England and India are the two teams nobody else wants to face in a semi-final. India have everything required to win a World Cup but I would be concerned about the lack of left-handers. They only really have Ravindra Jadeja in that first seven. There is no Rishabh Pant, who is a free spirit, which is a big blow. But the seamers are world class and the spinners, too."
The 48-year-old believes India are strong enough that the team beating the hosts will lift the trophy. He elaborated:
"With India it is always can they cope with the pressure? Just look at the last three World Cups. India won on home soil in 2011, Australia did the same in 2015 and England in 2019. It has been a common trend the home team has gone on to win the World Cup so everyone expects India to do so. I don’t think they will disappoint. Any team who beat India in a semi-final will win the World Cup."
India suffered a heartbreaking loss in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand despite finishing the group stage at the top of the table. Hence, they will look to get past that stage in the upcoming edition.
"England are very tough mentally" - Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan added that the current England team will be ranked as one of the best teams in history if they defend their title successfully.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for this group. They will be ranked alongside the great teams of the past if they can do the job over the next eight weeks. They can do it because England are very tough mentally."
The cricketer-turned-commentator has labelled Joe Root as the key player due to the sub-continent pitches being spin-friendly.
"Whether they have the best skill sets for winning in India is going to be the challenge. Joe Root has not been in great form but he is a massive key on those pitches because he plays spin so well. He does not need to play too aggressively, there are others who can do that."
Root was England's highest run-getter in the 2019 World Cup, hitting 556 runs in 11 matches at 61.78 with two centuries and three fifties.