Mumbai: Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle believes India are in a better place to win the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup title this year than they were in the previous two editions of the tournament.
India have won nine straight matches at this year's event to enter the knockout stage of the World Cup on a high and in the box seat to add a third title to their collection after previous successes in 1983 and 2011.
But India will be wary of the fact they were also on an unbeaten run when entering the semi-finals in Australia in 2015 and had lost just once at the last edition of the World Cup in England and Wales, before being unceremoniously dumped from the event at the final four stage.
Bhogle discussed India's progress at this World Cup on the latest episode of The ICC Review podcast and the respected commentator thinks the tournament hosts are in a strong position to defeat New Zealand in the semi-finals and go on and claim a third title.
"I wonder with a fair bit of cricket (at Wankhede Stadium) recently whether it will grip a bit and If it does then it is a big advantage for India," Bhogle said.
"Funnily, at the Wankhede, the toss has become a big factor because under the lights in the first 10 overs the ball is doing alarming things," he said.
"Seventeen wickets have fallen in four games in the first 10 overs," Bhogle said.
"The ideal recipe there would be to bat first, make 330 or 340 and try and pick up two or three wickets in the first Powerplay," he said.
"India should fancy their chances," Bhogle said.
It was New Zealand that proved India's conquerors at the most recent edition of the World Cup in 2019 as the Black Caps clinched an 18-run victory at Old Trafford and Rohit Sharma's side will be
out for revenge on Wednesday when they host the Kiwis in a cut-throat match in Mumbai.
New Zealand looked like world beaters when they won their first four matches in India, but a quartet of consecutive losses and a host of injuries to key players meant they only qualified for the semi-finals with their victory over Sri Lanka in their final group game.
While Bhogle is a long-time admirer of the way New Zealand play their cricket, he wonders whether they will have enough firepower to upset India this time around.
"New Zealand have struggled a lot in this tournament and have not beaten a team that has qualified for the semi-final, but they hadn’t in 2019 either," Bhogle said.
"They most of what they have is probably good enough to make ths semi-finals and the final and then they need a dash of inspiration at some stage which maybe they have fallen short of over the years," he said.
"I think they are a top four (EPL) premiership side. They are probably an Arsenal under (Arsene) Wenger," Bhogle said.
"Enough to come up to a point, but maybe don’t quite have that X-factor," he said.
Bhogle is also concerned by the lack of depth in New Zealand's bowling.
While Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson head up an impressive pace trio and Mitchell Santner is an accomplished spinner, Bhogle wonders whether the Kiwis can afford to try and obtain another 10 overs of bowling from the likes of all-rounders Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra.
"Santner is bowling very well, but do they have a fifth bowler?" Bhogle pondered.
"That could be a weakness and there are a few holes in that side," he said.
"So many things have gone wrong for New Zealand since they started the World Cup - especially to their endearing popular captain Kane Williamson - so maybe this is the day it will all come right, who knows," Bhogle added. (UNI)
