Former Australia cricketer Steve Waugh recently came forward and predicted the four sides who could make it to the Champions Trophy semi-finals.
The Champions Trophy 2025 is well underway. With some sides having played the first game of their campaigns, there are some teams who are still yet to play their first game. However, despite the games yet to come, there is no doubt that the tournament is going to be one to remember for the fans.
With the sides aiming to put in their best performances in the competition, former Australia cricketer and World Cup-winning captain Steve Waugh came forward and predicted the four semi-finalists of the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025.
It is worth noting that Waugh went on to leave out Pakistan from the semi-finalists. He picked India and New Zealand from Group A, alongside England and Australia from Group B. “It’s unpredictable. Obviously, India, in those conditions. New Zealand have got a very strong squad. I would never underestimate Australia. Then there’s England. Honestly, it’s hard to pick the top floor and you can’t write off the rest,” Waugh said in an interview with the Times of India.
As for his prediction, the World Cup-winning captain’s prediction about India and New Zealand qualifying for the semis is on track, considering that both sides have won their first game of the season against Bangladesh and Pakistan, respectively. As for England and Australia, both sides will soon play their first game of the tournament.
Furthermore, Waugh talked about the ever-rising trend of ODI cricket being a dying format. He opined that everyone talks about the format like it is dying unless there is a major ICC tournament around the corner.
“Everyone doubts One-Day cricket until you have a major tournament, and then you realise you really like ODIs and they’re exciting. It looks like a long form again when you stack it up against T20. Now it’s almost seen as a boring format, but every time we have a World Cup, people fall in love with ODIs again,” Waugh said.
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