‘I see India favorites to win the World Cup’ – says former New Zealand skipper

Ahead of the India vs New Zealand game in the ongoing ODI World Cup, former NZ skipper Ross Taylor called the home team favorites to win the World Cup. The upcoming game will be a table-topper clash. After all, the Men In Blue is on the second spot while the Blackcaps are on the top of the table. Since 2003, India has never beaten New Zealand in the World Event across formats.

Meanwhile, Taylor, who was part of the World Test Championship 2021 winning side has said that no matter what happens in Dharamshala, the Asian side is the favorite to win the ODI World Cup 2023.

“India in their home conditions are a different beast and they have started unsurprisingly strongly – I see them as favourites to win the competition at this stage, no matter what happens in Dharamshala tomorrow.

“Jasprit Bumrah has led the attack brilliantly, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Jadeja are bowling really nicely and their top three have been fantastic for a long time. You can’t expect your top three to score runs all the time but they also now seem to have found a nice combination at four and five with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. New Zealand will need early wickets to put that middle order under pressure,” the 2021 WTC told Apex Council.

New Zealand has a strong recent record against India: Ross Taylor

The former New Zealand skipper added that he is not sure why his national side keeps beating India. Notably, Taylor was part of the wins against India in the 2019 and 2021 (twice)

“New Zealand have a strong recent record against India, having not lost this fixture at an World event for 20 years. I’m not sure quite what explains why New Zealand keep beating India at these tournaments but if you talk to a lot of Indian supporters, New Zealand are their second favourite team – maybe that has something to do with it, who knows?!,” Taylor added