World Cup 2023: Jamaica Tallawahs' Alex Hales predicts semi-finalists, Brandon King reveals India's trump card

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World Cup 2023: Jamaica Tallawahs opener Alex Hales has predicted his four semi-finalists for the World Cup 2023 and named just one Asian team in it.

Alex Hales announced his international retirement in August to focus on franchise T20 cricket and most recently he turned up for Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023. He was part of the England squad which won the T20 World Cup 2022.

In an exclusive interview with MyKhel.com courtesy Parimatch Sports, Alex Hales predicted defending champions England, Australia, New Zealand and hosts India as his four semi-finalists.

Further, Brandon King, Hales' captain at the Jamaica Tallawahs, heaped praises on India spinner Kuldeep Yadav. He said that the wrist spinner was the toughest bowler to face in the T20I series against India in August. He reckoned that the 28-year-old has a lot of variation in his bowling and has carried forward his good form in the lead up to the World Cup 2023 which kick starts from October 5.

"I think Kuldeep in that series. It looks like he's continued his form in the recent games. And you know, obviously, it's challenging when somebody has, you know, different variations you know, especially in the in the right areas, and he's been doing a lot of that in recent time, so Kuldeep," Brandon King said replying to the question from MyKhel.com.

Kuldeep Yadav was recently adjudged Player of the Series in Asia Cup 2023 for picking nine wickets in five matches. India did not name him in the squad for first two ODIs of the ongoing series against Australia to not overexpose him ahead of the World Cup. He is set to return for the third and last ODI to be played in Rajkot on September 27.

Talking about the CPL 2023, Brandon King finished as the fifth-highest run-scorer. He has scored 288 runs in 10 matches at an average of 28.80 and a strike rate of 145.45. Alex Hales scored 217 runs, including a hundred, in seven matches at an average of 36.16 and 146.62. Jamaica Tallawahs finished fourth with four wins in 10 matches.