Yuvraj Singh, who stole the show back in the 2011 World Cup, believes India have a great chance to repeat the feat this year in England. He also identified England and Australia as the other teams to watch out for and picked India and England as the two finalists. He also said that the conditions and regulations are very different which have made a score of 300+ competitive as compared to 260-270 which allowed teams to win games earlier.
"It's a different ball game now. (Now) five fielders (are) in (the circle); those days there were four. Scores of 260, 270, 280 were competitive scores. These days the competitive scores have become 300-plus. Because of that one fielder. I feel we still have that unit where they can chase anything. And India has been playing really well in the last 2-3 years," Yuvraj was as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Australia have a good bowling attack
The southpaw believed with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia have a strong unit, more so because of their rounded and strong bowling attack.
"I feel India and England have a very good chance of making it to the final. Australia, yes, since (David) Warner and Steve (Smith) came back; they also have a very good bowling attack. These three teams are pretty much likely to be in the last four," Yuvraj further added.
He, himself, was India's X-factor back in 2011 and now the batsman believes India are well-served as far as match-winners are concerned. He earmarked Hardik Pandya to be the man who could be the difference on the day.
"I think the X-factor in this World Cup is going to be Hardik (Pandya). He's currently on form and batting well. And is someone who's very helpful with the ball. In those conditions, if we play two fast bowlers and two spinners, you have Hardik as your third seamer. It gives the right balance to the team," Yuvraj said.
Speaking on the role of MS Dhoni, Yuvraj said that the seasoned campaigner has a lot to offer to the Indian team as he is in form and his inputs to captain Virat Kohli in pressure moments will be invaluable.
"Yeah, definitely. He's been such an experienced captain. There will be these situations where he will be discussing with Virat how to get the best out of the situations," Yuvraj assessed.
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