The 2023 edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is all set to kick off on October 5. The quadrennial event, featuring 10 teams, will be played in India across 10 venues.

Ahmedabad, Delhi, Dharamsala, Lucknow, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad will host the World Cup matches.

With barely a few days left for the showpiece tournament, experts are picking their favourites to lift the coveted trophy and also naming the players who can set the global stage on fire.  

Former India opener and 2011 World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir has also joined the bandwagon, predicting that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam will have a run-fest campaign in India.

"The kind of technique Babar Azam has, I think he will score three or four centuries for Pakistan in this World Cup," Gambhir said while speaking to Star Sports.

Currently occupying the No. 1 position in the ICC ODI rankings for batters, Babar boasts a fantastic record in the 50-over format. The right-hander has scored 5409 runs from 108 ODIs at a remarkable average of 58.16, including 19 hundreds.

Last week, Gambhir had said that Babar Azam has every quality to excel in the World Cup.

“Babar Azam has every quality to set this World Cup on fire. I have seen very few players who have so much time. Yes, there are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Kane Williamson and Joe Root but Babar Azam has a quality of a different level,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.

Pakistan will open their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6 in Hyderabad.