Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers has backed Team India to win the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 at home. India has won two ODI World Cups so far – first in 1983 under Kapil Dev, and the second under Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2011 at home. AB de Villiers feels they will repeat the feat in the upcoming championship.
The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 will kick off on October 5 in Ahmedabad with the final to take place on November 18 at the same venue. England will be heading into the tournament as the defending champions. They defeated New Zealand in a thrilling final to win the 2019 ODI World Cup. AB de Villiers picked the defending champions, along with India, Australia and South Africa as the top four in the tournament.
“Definitely, India. I think they will go on to win it over there again. It’s going to be a fairy-tale World Cup. India, England, and Australia – got to go with the big three. Then I want to go with South Africa, even though Pakistan has a really good chance as well. So the fourth team will be South Africa,” said the former cricketer in a Q&A on his Youtube channel.
“I’ve gone with three non-sub-continent teams there, which is very risky. But I am going to stick to it because I think the wickets will be good. I don’t think the World Cup is going to see bad wickets during the duration of the tournament,” he added.
England and India final will be fantastic: AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers further expressed that he would love to see the hosts, India and the defending champions, England going up against each other in the final of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. He also spoke about South Africa’s chances, calling them a talented and underrated team. AB de Villiers said,
England and India in the final. If they can find each other in that final, I think that will be fantastic, even though I really want my South African boys to be there.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy for them, but never say never. This is the World Cup in which there are least expectations from South Africa, and that might boast well for them. They are very talented and a very underrated team,” he added.
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