India boast of a damaging batting attack

Things are now getting exciting with the build-up to the World Cup well under way with the tri-series starting on Friday. For England and India, this is really a good opportunity to see how their respective squads are going to cope with the conditions here.

India, having been here for a couple of months, have the advantage as they know the grounds and what to expect as far as the pitches are concerned. There will be some really hard games and these two teams and Australia will be able to mix and match their batting and bowling line-ups to try and find the right formula going into the World Cup.

The players to watch out for in the England side would be Ravi Bopara and Moeen Ali, who I feel is a very dangerous player. I like the look of Ali’s cricket — he’s a handy off-spinner and good striker of the ball, and obviously Broad and Anderson will be important for the bowling side of things. If these four do well, England will do well.

India has probably got the most damaging batting attack. The list of players at their disposal is very imposing, capable of setting big targets and chasing them down as well. Virat Kohli has had a fantastic summer and likes the Australian conditions, I think that his form will continue in the shorter format as well.

Rohit Sharma will come into his own in one-dayers by batting at the top of the order. Mahendra Singh Dhoni comes back into the team and loves the one-day game and the big stage. He will try and help the defending champions stamp their authority on the World Cup via this tri-series.

For Australia, there are a few injury worries, particularly for Michael Clarke, who has been set a deadline. But the players to watch will be David Warner, who can set a fantastic tone at the top of the order, and I’m expecting a good series from Shane Watson, who broke the shackles a bit in Sydney and started to get wickets and his innings of 81 in the final Test should have helped him regain his confidence. I feel he’s ready for a big tournament.

Steve Smith, much like Kohli, is in wonderful form and you don’t know when the high scores are going to finish with these guys. The bowling will be key and we have good firepower in Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. There are some good all-rounders in Watson, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner.

Australia will go into this tri-series a confident side after their Test win, India will have to shrug off the disappointment and do what they do best and for England, it’s time to pick themselves out of the ODI doldrums. They haven’t been playing particularly well in recent times but are a dangerous side.

I do, however, expect Australia and India to play the final, England are a good side but just haven’t quite got the class of the other two teams.

— Gameplan