Kohli, regarded by many as the greatest ODI player ever, will be playing in his third World Cup and would be rearing to go and lead the team to title victory.

England's hard-hitting batsman Jos Buttler was Waugh's second choice. "Jos Buttler, I'd have him at No.2 in the top three," he said.

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Buttler has been in amazing form in the last four years, not only in ODIs but all three formats of the game. Earlier this month, he smashed a 50-ball century against Pakistan in Southampton after taking the West Indies' attack apart for 150 from just 77 balls in February.

The third batsman on Waugh's list was David Warner.

"Aaron Finch at his best is right up there, so is David Warner," said Waugh. "I'll go with David Warner."

Warner, who made a comeback to cricket after serving a one-year ban for his involvement in the Sandpaper Gate, has been in tremendous form off late. In the IPL 2019, he scored 692 runs in 12 matches he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Warner last played an ODI for Australia 18 months ago, Waugh is expecting fireworks from the swashbuckling opener.

The World Cup will begin with the opening match between hosts England and South Africa on May 30.

Team India will be playing their first warm-up match against New Zealand on Saturday. Armed with pedigree, personnel and form, favourites India will look to hit the ground running/