Ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has compared the current England side with the 'great' Australia squad, who lifted two World Cups.

The 38-year old, on Wednesday, took Twitter to share his opinion and wrote: "This England ODI side is like that great Aussie side...if (Matthew) Hayden didn't get you, then (Ricky) Ponting would & if they missed out, (Adam) Gilchrist would. This England team, the same, (Jason) Roy, (Jonny) Bairstow, (Jos) Buttler etc...SOOOOO good!"

Pietersen has compared the former Australian batsmen-- Hayden, Ponting and Gilchrist -- with England's Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Butler. All three Australia veterans featured in the 2003 and 2007 World Cup, beating India and Sri Lanka, respectively, in the final match to clinch the title two times in a row.

England is going to host the forthcoming quadrennial tournament and will try to justify the 'favourite' tag they have got since World Cup hype came into being.

Apart from having the home benefit, it is the England team which makes them a tough competitor in the premier tournament and will require a great effort to overpower them. The corroboration for this is that they atop the ICC ODI rankings list.