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Former England skipper Eoin Morgan has claimed that Hardik Pandya's return to full fitness and bowling full throttle make India favorites to win the ODI World Cup in their home conditions starting next month.
Morgan shed light on how impressed he was with Hardik's bowling in the ongoing Asia Cup. He feels teams with the luxury of having a top-six batter contribute important overs will have the edge over others.
Speaking to Sky Sports, here's what Eoin Morgan had to say about Hardik Pandya:
"The fitness level of Hardik Pandya, his ability to bowl. He has bowled little bit in the Asia Cup so far but he has bowled really really well and there are very few sides in the tournament that would be genuine contenders that will have somebody who bats in the tops six and and has the ability to bowl. Having Hardik Pandya fit and being able to bowl five and six overs of quality bowling really does in my eyes make them probably favourite."
Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull was also present in the conversation and he agreed with what Morgan had to say. He added:
“I agree with Morgan on the Hardik Pandya thing. If he is fit and raring to go then they have the likes of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, they are very good. They have got all the parts but can they put it together and can they play the style of cricket that makes them win a World Cup."
Eoin Morgan on India's home advantage
Eoin Morgan understands that Team India haven't done well in knockout games over the past decade and that's one thing that would probably make fans wonder about their chances in the World Cup.
However, he also claimed the importance of home conditions and how it could help the Men in Blue get over their knockouts jinx. He stated:
"They didn’t get it right in Adelaide but home conditions give you a certain level of comfort, a certain level of habit, they have already grooved over the years that is an advantage the other teams don’t have. So it would be lot easier to block down the noise in India because they have done it before but the direction in doing that will come from the captain and coach."
India will begin their World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia in Chennai on October 8.
