With Steve Smith and David Warner returning to the Australian team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, former Australian skipper Steve Waugh believes the duo's arrival will further strengthen the team's chances at the showpiece event and sound a warning bell for the other teams.
However, despite being out of action for such a long time, Warner showed imperious form in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 as the opener topped the charts of run-getters with 692 runs from 12 innings, which included a ton and eight half-centuries.
Smith also showed his class during the three warm-up games against a New Zealand XI in Brisbane after scores of unbeaten 89 and 91.
Despite some poor shows in the previous year, the five-time world champions raised their game just ahead of the showpiece event. In their tour of India, the Aussies were trailing 0-2 but notched a hat-trick of wins to register a 3-2 win in the five-match rubber.
They didn't look back from there and whitewashed Pakistan 5-0 in another ODI series in UAE.
"Australia will be one of the teams… probably not the favourite for the tournament, but the team that other sides will be probably most fearful of. They could do some damage. So I think Australia could go really deep in the tournament," the World Cup winning Australian skipper added.
Speaking on the teams considered favourites for the World Cup, Waugh said: "England to me are probably the favourites . Their form has been outstanding over the last couple of years. They are playing at home. Sometimes, that creates more pressure, but they've got a really good coach in Trevor Bayliss to keep the players grounded."
"So I think England would be favourites, and probably Australia and India on that second line of favouritism," Waugh concluded saying.
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