‘India, England troubles will make World Cup tighter’ – Glenn McGrath

McGrath, in India on a visit to the MRF Pace Foundation, where he is director, said that playing the IPL at this time would serve as preparation for the World Cup, despite conditions in India being vastly different to that in England, where the quadrennial event gets underway on 30 May.

“It is (IPL) a good preparation, in the sense that it will get your mindset into the shorter versions of the game,” he said. “Indian conditions compared to England conditions will be different but just the mindset — feeling bat on the ball and taking wickets — it will boost the players' confidence ahead of the World Cup.”

He does rate India as favourites for the World Cup, along with England. However, both teams have had their troubles recently – India lost 3-2 at home to Australia, while England didn’t entirely convince in the Caribbean, the series being drawn 2-2.

McGrath said that was proof enough that the World Cup would be tighter and more competitive than initially thought. “I thought the top-two teams at the World Cup were India and England,” he said. “England has had a tough time in West Indies and India coming up with a few losses against Australia … the competition is going to be a bit tighter.

“Australia’s confidence will go up and their chances [of going the distance] will be a bit more now than what it was at the start of the series. We will have to see how they do well against Pakistan in the UAE.”

In fact, Australia’s win over India, McGrath said, had changed perceptions about them. He said they would go far in the tournament, especially with Steve Smith and David Warner set to return after their bans, although he acknowledged that they might have to fight for their spots.

“The recent series win has done a world of good for the Australian team,” he said. “They were a little flat in the series against India Down Under. But the win in India will give them a huge amount of confidence.

“[The returns of Smith and Warner] will be a good headache to have rather than try to make the numbers up,” he said. “Someone like Usman Khawaja, who bats in the opener or in No. 3 — it will be interesting to see which way they go.

“Warner likely to take the opener’s spot, I see Usman going in at No.3 and Smith in at No.4. It was great to see Khawaja in good form and score runs in the Indian conditions.”

Australia will begin their World Cup campaign against Afghanistan on 1 June at the Bristol County Ground.