Australia's Mark Waugh has rated an 'unpredictable' India third among the favourites to lift the World Cup, behind his own country and South Africa.

Writing in The Sun-Herald newspaper, Waugh said, "India and Pakistan are the wildcards. They are unpredictable but capable of beating anyone on their day.

"Australia are my tip to win the World Cup, but I am not getting carried away. I am reasonably confident rather than totally convinced."

On India, Waugh wrote, "They are an excellent batting side on paper. Virendra Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are very solid and if a couple of them were to get going in any one game, they could do a lot of damage.

"Their pace bowling is improving -- Zaheer Khan is excellent -- and they've got a couple of good spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

"India's fielding has improved, with Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh being outstanding. The worry for the Indians is the fast and bouncy pitches."