Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar does not believe India is the favourite to win the World Cup. He has named England, a side which has changed its approach in ODIs will be the team to watch out for, especially because they are playing in home conditions.

"The strong favourites in the World Cup tournament are England. And it is not because of the fact that it will be a home World Cup for them. But because they have changed their attitude towards ODI cricket," Gavaskar told India Today.

He also said that the balance of the side is what makes England a pretty dangerous team and the way they have picked their sides in the recent past holds them in great shape.

'They have changed their game'

Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil GavaskarReuters

"They had lost in the league stage in 2015 World Cup, probably against Bangladesh. But since then, the manner in which they changed their game, the way in which they picked their team, England have grown into a strong side. They have a good opening pair, they have strong middle-order batters, they also have a good all-rounder in the form of and when you play at home you also have a strong backing," he further added.

The former Indian opener believes India comes a close a second as favourites and says that the team will be familiar with conditions since they have played in those conditions for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018.

"The advantage that India have is they have played in England for two consecutive years - 2017 and 2018. So the players who will be part of the World Cup squad will be aware of the conditions and hence will be able to use their experience and probably India can use the factor to lift the World Cup. But I feel the most favourites are England and then come India," Gavaskar said.

India is slated to play in an ODI series against Australia later this month and the selectors have selected a pretty balanced squad for the same. This team could well be the closest view of the squad which would fly across to England for the quadrennial event.

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