Former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes India are firm favourites to beat New Zealand in the semi-finals and book a spot in the finals at Lord’s. India have been the best team in the tournament so far with seven wins out of 8 matches while one game was washed out. They topped the points table, while New Zealand scraped through by virtue of their superior net run rate.

“No-brainer for me, India is in the final. In cricket you should never say that, if I was an Indian player I wouldn’t be thinking like that or if I was Virat Kohli I wouldn’t be thinking like that,” Clarke told India Today.

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“But from outside, India is on fire they are playing unbelievable cricket at the moment and in my opinion they already have one foot in the final,” he further added.

However, he was quick to add that India cannot take anything for granted and that they need to play consistent and hard cricket, much like the way they have been playing the whole tournament.

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“New Zealand at the moment are really low on confidence because of their most recent performances. That is what is going to make the game so hard against India. India are flying with confidence because of their most recent performances,” the former Australian captain said.

Speaking about the irrepressible form of Rohit Sharma, Clarke said that as things stand right now, no bowler will be able to stop the Indian opener and that he holds key for India’s success.

“At the moment no one vs Rohit. He is in a different league, how do you get him out? He is a batting genius at the moment, he’s been the batsman of the tournament. Him and David Warner have been the two standouts for me,” Clarke said.

First Published: Jul 09, 2019 10:36 IST