With the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2019 is just around the corner, the debate of pre-tournament favorite is rising with every passing day. India and England are in red-hot form leading into the World Cup but no one can tell which team will leave England with the trophy in hand.

ICC CEO David Richardson faced the same dilemma when he was asked the same question. In an event, where Richardson unveiled the World Cup trophy, a journalist asked him this question where he was heard saying it’s difficult to pick a winner. Though, he feels India will be one team to beat throughout the tournament.

Also Read: Richardson says every dog has its day after India’s shocking defeat

“It is extremely difficult to pick a winner. Obviously, India is playing really well. England has got their best ODI team in many years. South Africa has also performed. But the progress the Indian team has made in the recent years, it will be exceptionally difficult to beat them,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO told reporters.

When asked about the recently launched schedule of ICC T20 World Cup 2020, where India and Pakistan are not put in the same group, he replied “We have arranged the groups in a way that has credibility, and is based on the rankings. We have several techniques one of them is called the Snake Method. Teams are placed according to their ranks and play each other accordingly.”

Richardson further added “In this case, Pakistan was number one in the rankings in their group and India number two. Obviously, everyone likes to see them play but to maintain the integrity and credibility of the groups we found no credible way of putting them in the same group. Hopefully, from a world perspective, they will meet each other in the semi-finals or final.”

Talking about the corruption issue of Sri Lanka Cricket Board, he stated “It’s not just about anti-corruption but also about player conduct. In recent times we have had several unruly incidents around the world and we have taken really firm steps there to make sure that everybody understands we need to protect the spirit of cricket.”

Also Read: Team India bundled out for 92

Richardson concluded while saying “On the anti-corruption side we have taken more proactive steps to disrupt the actions of certain frivolous individuals that wander around trying to fix cricket matches. In the past, we have tried to do the right thing by taking steps against these individuals and now also we are trying to disrupt them as much as possible and the players are doing the right thing by reporting any incident.”