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South African batting legend AB de Villiers has predicted hosts India to win the 2023 World Cup. According to the former cricketer, the Men in Blue are likely to have a fairy-tale campaign, just like in 2011 when they lifted the trophy at home under MS Dhoni’s leadership.
The 2023 World Cup will be played in India from October 5 to November 19. While England will be the defending champions, only the host nations have won the ODI World Cup starting with India in 2011. Australia won it in 2015, while England lifted their maiden ODI World Cup title at Lord’s in 2019.
During a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, De Villiers predicted the trend to continue. Asked to name his four semifinalists for the mega event, he replied:
“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, Australia - got to go with the big three. Then I want to go with South Africa, even though Pakistan have a really good chance as well. So the fourth team will be South Africa."
“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.
The 2023 ODI World Cup will begin with a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“England and India in the final” - AB de Villiers makes another major World Cup 2023 prediction
Apart from picking India to lift the trophy, De Villiers named defending champions England as his other finalist.
While sharing his thoughts on the World Cup contenders, he commented:
“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.”
Meanwhile, De Villiers isn’t surprised with Ben Stokes’ decision to reverse his ODI retirement since he is actively involved in Test cricket. The former player opined:
“Ben Stokes is still playing cricket, so it’s not that weird that he’s making himself available for the World Cup. England’s team looks really strong, very powerful setup, and, I think, they are going to go, if not all the way, very close to all the way.”
Stokes announced a shock retirement from ODI cricket last year but has been picked in the one-day squad for the series against New Zealand, which has also been confirmed as England’s provisional World Cup 2023 squad.
