The World Cup 2023 will kick-start on October 5 and will run until November 19, the opening match and the final both slated for the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
This year’s event is the 13th edition of the ODI World Cup. The last three ODI World Cups have been won by the hosting nations – India in 2011, Australia in 2015 and England in 2019.
Will this trend continue? Will India be able to end their decade-long ICC title drought? Or will Australia reassert their dominance on world cricket and bag their 6th ODI WC trophy? Or will England become only the third team in the history to successfully defend their ODI world champions title?
Or will, finally, South Africa end their ICC tournament jinx to win their maiden World Cup? Or will New Zealand, who were the losing finalists the last two times, finally get their hands on the coveted trophy?
The tournament will be played in a league stage with all 10 teams playing against each other once. The top 4 will qualify for the semi-finals and the winners of the semis will meet in the mega-finale.
Who will be the top 4 in the semi-finals? AB de Villiers predicts
Former South African captain and legendary batsman AB de Villiers has picked his top four. The top 3 are the favorites of many: India, Australia, and England. For the fourth position, AB de Villiers has gone with his home nation – South Africa.
AB Devilliers picks his Semi-final teams in World Cup 2023:
1) India
2) Australia
3) England
4) South Africa
So far, England and Australia have announced their preliminary World Cup squad, which can be tweaked until September 27.
Australia’s preliminary squad for World Cup 2023:
Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa. (three to be omitted)
England’s preliminary squad for World Cup 2023:
Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
