"None of those teams are looking good, to be honest" - Aakash Chopra on Australia, England, and Pakistan's 2023 ODI World Cup campaignÂ
Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels that only one of the supposed pre-tournament favorites - Australia, England, and Pakistan - will qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinals. The aforementioned sides have had dismal starts to their respective campaigns, and have struggled with issues ranging from team selection to adapting to the conditions.
Team India and New Zealand are the only set of unbeaten teams remaining in the competition. South Africa are third due to their shock defeat to the Netherlands, but the Proteas have won the rest of their matches in a dominant fashion.
However, the likes of Australia, England, and Pakistan have already recorded multiple defeats. Even a massive turnaround will make their chances to qualify into the semifinals quite difficult, considering they still have some tricky matches left to play.
Naming India, New Zealand and South Africa as the top three placed teams at the end of the league stage, Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel:
"India, New Zealand and South Africa will surely qualify for the semi-finals. The fight will be for the fourth spot among England, Australia and Pakistan. None of those teams are looking good, to be honest."
Australia, who began their campaign with a string of losses, atleast have some momentum following successive wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan recently.
"No one missed Temba Bavuma except for England" - Aakash Chopra on South Africa's dominant win
England's misery in the 2023 ODI World Cup continued as they suffered their worst defeat in the format. The Jos Buttler-led side fell short by 229 runs against South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
South Africa were led by Aiden Markram due to Temba Bavuma being ill. The Proteas posted a mammoth 399-run total after being asked to bat first. Heinrich Klaasen scored a magnificent ton and was aided by fifties from Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, and Marco Jansen.
England were never in the run chase after losing four wickets in the first powerplay. Cameos from Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson pushed England to 170 runs in 22 overs.
Branding Klaasen as the best middle-order batter in the world at present, Chopra said:
"No one missed Temba Bavuma except for England, because Reeza Hendricks played so well. I don't think there is a better batter than Klaasen in his position in the world at the moment."
"England's bowling looked below par. They also ditched their all-rounder theory by dropping Livingstone, Curran and Woakes," Chopra added.
Will England be able to qualify for the semi-finals from this position in the 2023 ODI World Cup? Let us know what you think.