“Australia are the only team that can knock India out” - Brad Hogg makes a huge statement on World Cup 2023

Former Australian left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg reckons that the Aussies are the only side that are capable of knocking India out of the 2023 ODI World Cup. According to Hogg, while the Men in Blue will have the advantage of playing at home, Australia have plenty of depth in their squad.

The 2023 ODI World Cup will be played in India from October 5 to November 19. While India won the World Cup at home back in 2011, Australia captured the title when they were hosts in 2015. The previous edition in England was also won by the host nation.

India and Australia will kick off their World Cup campaign by taking on each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on October 8. In an interview on Revsportz’s show Backstage with Boria, Hogg was asked for his views on the chances of both India and Australia in the upcoming ICC event.

“They [Australia] have a great fast bowling attack with Mitchell Starc who can do a bit of damage with the new ball. We have also got a spinner in Adam Zampa, and he does control the middle overs. We have quite a few all-rounders,” he said.

Apart from naming the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, Hogg also predicted that Travis Head would open the batting with David Warner. While praising the aggressive left-hander, the 52-year-old made a huge statement and said:

“I think Australia are the only team that can knock India out of the World Cup. They have had success in the World Test Championship and the Ashes. They seem as though they are very switched on.”

Before the World Cup, Australia will play three ODIs in India from September 22 to September 27.

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“Without Rishabh Pant, you need Rahul to keep” - Hogg on India’s team combination for World Cup

Shifting focus to India, Hogg admitted that the hosts have an explosive batting line-up on paper. He, however, pointed out that the Men in Blue will need to make some interesting choices owing to uncertainty around the availability of some players.

“Can you put Shreyas Iyer in there? Is KL Rahul going to be fit? Without Rishabh Pant, you need Rahul to keep. I will be quite interested in who is going to be in that middle order. I think it will be Ravindra Jadeja as he is a slightly better batter than Axar Patel. The only question marks there is whether they go with Shardul Thakur,” Hogg said.

While Rahul has been picked in the Indian team for the Asia Cup, he has been ruled out of the first two matches against Pakistan and Nepal due to a niggle.