The cricket World Cup in England has reached its finalcountdown. Australia, India, England and New Zealand have emerged victoriousfrom the group stage to reach the semi-finals. None of these sides have a cleanand unblemished record and that is precisely why predicting a winner is trulyfoolhardy.

Pakistan got their act together very late in the tournament,whereas Bangladesh impressed with the way they played against most of theiropponents. Shakib Al Hasan, their all-rounder, has been the player of the WorldCup thus far and the young Bangladesh team is developing into a very potentunit.

For Afghanistan, their participation at the highest stage ofworld cricket will give them immense experience and with their talented pool ofplayers, a bit more exposure against the best will only make them better.

South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies were disappointing.All the three of them were potential semi-finalists but they lacked tactic anddiscipline. They will now need to go back to the drawing board to chart outtheir way ahead.

Australia, the present cup holders and the most successfulside in the World Cup's history, look like a very professional unit. Their toporder batters are in good form but they have shown weakness in their middle andlower order batting. Their wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey is the only shininglight at present and with Glenn Maxwell struggling to find form, Australia relyheavily on their top four to get them to a respectable total. Their strengthlies in their fast bowling and their aggressive and positive approach to thegame. Captain Aaron Finch is batting well and with David Warner, Steve Smithand the underrated Usman Khawaja to support him, they look like a formidableunit.

England must be breathing a sigh of relief. The hosts andthe tournament favourites were on the verge of being knocked out in the group stage.They looked like the best all-round side on paper before the tournament beganand in the initial stages, but with a few big losses, they went completely intodisarray. A convincing win against India and then demolishing New Zealand toqualify has given the English side just the right momentum and confidence tomake them feel like a giant killer. They have a very strong batting and bowlingunit that, when in unison, can be very destructive. Funnily, their fortunechanged once their opener Jason Roy came back into the side from his injury.Roy and Jonny Bairstow now look the most fearsome opening pair in thetournament. Joe Root gives them just the right balance for all their otherbatters to make merry thereafter. England will most likely play India in theirsemifinal encounter and having beaten them quite convincingly, especially whenthey were on the verge of being knocked out, they will definitely be in a goodframe of mind ahead of the encounter.

New Zealand, have been the most consistent performing sidein all the 44 years of World Cup history. Unfortunately, they have never wonthe coveted trophy. They were runners-up in 2015 after losing to Australia inthe final and will most probably face them again in the semi-final this year.New Zealand started the tournament in fine fettle, but their loss against Indiaand England in their last two matches must have dented their confidencesignificantly. Although they have a very capable bowling side, their battingdepends entirely on their captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. In order forthem to win, their other batters need to come to the party or else they willstruggle to progress.

India, with just one hiccup against England, moved quitefluently into the semi-final stage. They too look to be a side which iscompletely reliant on the top three batters, who fortunately for them havedelivered consistently. Both Rohit Sharma with four centuries under his beltand captain Virat Kohli have been magnificent in ensuring the team reaches agood score. Their success has still not tested the weak middle and lower orderbatters. India, even after the nine games have not been able to stabilize theirbatting order. This could be a very worrying factor, especially in the knockoutstage, as teams by then are quite settled and structured.

Rishabh Pant has captured the number four position, but histechnique, as well as that of Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya's against theball leaving them outside the off-stump is a bit of a worry. Former captain MSDhoni has kept the tail wagging only by his experience and smartness. Histactics at times, have been difficult to understand. One gets the feeling thatas the wise old man of the team, it is his responsibility to carry histeammates and the side on his shoulders. He needs to execute his skills with anopen and carefree mind and play without the unnecessary burden that he seems tohave put on himself. An aggressive Dhoni is far better than a subdued andcalculative one.

The wickets in the last stages, one hopes, are newly laid,fresh and lively strips. The use of played-on wickets has been an area ofconcern and criticism during the group matches. In the second innings itbecomes very slow, making stroke-play that much more difficult.

India have three gold coins in their side. The best batter,Rohit Sharma and the best bowler in Jasprit Bumrah along with the most dynamicplayer in Virat Kohli. Rated as the number one side in the world, they do atpresent look like the "Lord of the Jungle".