Visakhapatnam: Former Sri Lankan coach (and one-time Australian allrounder) Bruce Yardley has tipped India for a semi-finals berth in the forthcoming World Cup. The 59-year-old, who lost his left eye to cancer, is here on a TV assignment and spoke to The Telegraph on Friday. In his opinion, holders Australia, former champions Sri Lanka and South Africa should be the others in the last-four.

The following are excerpts

On his assessment (alphabetically) of the eight seeded teams

Australia:Despite injury worries, I still fancy them... I’m sure they will make the semi-finals.

England: Caused an upset in the tri-series finals, beating Australia, but I don’t see them getting past the Super Eight. They’ve only just re-emerged and it appears they’ve now got some self-belief, but...

India: Greg Chappell has had a tough time trying to build a unit, but I think it has worked... The Indians have the balance and that’s going to be critical in the World Cup... Sourav Ganguly’s return has made such a difference and I see them in the semi-finals. Obviously, Sachin Tendulkar has to be fit and if Virender Sehwag opens with Ganguly, you have an awesome top six... It will take something (special) to beat that line-up... I rate Munaf Patel very highly... He has modelled himself on the great Glenn McGrath... I’ve also been fascinated by Sreesanth... I wonder if the Indians are going to play five specialist bowlers, including both full-time spinners (Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh)...

New Zealand: They can run most teams close, but I’m not convinced they have the ammunition to make the semi-finals. Shane Bond is among wickets in a big way, yes, but they’re missing somebody like Chris Cairns.

Pakistan: As usual, they seem to be all over the place... Controversies and so on... On their day, they will beat anybody, but the inconsistency which is unique to Pakistan takes away from their talent.

Sri Lanka:It’s a team which bats way down and has all-round capability... Also, in Mahela Jayawardene, they’ve got a good captain... He’s positive and isn’t hesitant to try out moves... I don’t find him being driven by circumstances... The Sri Lankans have plenty of experience both at the top of the order and in bowling... There’s little point judging them by performances in India as they rested key bowlers — Muttiah Muralidharan and Chaminda Vaas…

South Africa:Good team... They have allrounders and are very smart on the field. I pick them ahead of the West Indies for a semi-finals berth.

West Indies: Playing at home is definitely an advantage, but in ODIs, they rely too much on Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul... If they don’t fire, the team struggles.

On the one batsman and bowler he expects to stand out

Tough, but my choice is Ricky Ponting and Muralidharan... Nobody is more hungry for runs/wickets...

On whether Sri Lanka Cricket must retain Tom Moody as coach

Absolutely... He’s a relaxed sort of guy and has taken this team to the next level...

Finally, on what coaches ought not to do in the World Cup

(Laughs) Coach from the boundary! That’s a very dangerous thing to do... Once the team is over the line, it has to run by itself... At that point, the coach’s role is over... Captains and players should learn to cope, not look at the coach for relief.