6 things to look forward to in cricket in 2019

2018 was an incredible year for Test cricket. There were several mouth-watering Test series in 2018- the final match of the Ashes, India’s much-awaited Test series against South Africa, England avenging Australia in the ODIs away and home, Australia’s controversial Test series against South Africa.

In addition, there were other incidents like New Zealand’s remarkable series victory in UAE, Pakistan’s familiar batting collapses, England’s noteworthy series victory in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and West Indies cancelling out their losses at their respective home series, Afghanistan and Ireland’s Test debut and Zimbabwe’s rare away Test match victory.

In the limited-overs format, we witnessed several exciting series like the Asia Cup, England five-match tussle with the Kiwis, Nidahas Trophy, ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018, IPL 2018.

On the controversial side, the ‘Sandpaper Gate’ topped the list. Just like every other year, a bunch of players retired from various forms of cricket in 2018. Among them, AB de Villiers’ shocking International retirement tops the list.

With 2018 now officially over, let us look at six things, which we can look forward to in the world of cricket in 2019.

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#6 Return of Steve Smith and David Warner

Smith and Warner will return to Australia around April 2019

2017 was a remarkable year for Steve Smith as he led his team to a thumping 4-0 victory against their archrivals England in the 2017-18 Ashes series to reclaim the prestigious ‘Urn.’ Based on his great run of form at the end of 2017, many predicted that 2018 would be the year in which Smith could completely stamp his authority over the other members of the ‘Fab 4'.

On the other hand, David Warner was in sublime form in all the formats. He had scored close to 1000 Test runs in 2017 with four hundreds and four fifties. In ODIs, he had three centuries against his name in 13 innings with the high score of 179. Both Smith and Warner were the pillars of Australian batting lineup in 2017. Hence, a lot more was expected from the duo in 2018.

However, 2018 turned out to be a disastrous year for both the duo and Australian cricket. The infamous ‘Sandpaper Gate’ incident completely changed the entire landscape of Australian cricket. Cricket Australia banned the pair along with Cameron Bancroft for their actions that shattered the reputation of Australian cricket.

With the absence of the duo in the batting lineup, the Australian team predictably struggled against all the opponents in all the formats in all the conditions. Even in the press conference at the end of the third Test against India, Tim Paine, the current Australian skipper openly admitted the fact that the team is eagerly waiting for the duo to join the setup and change the fortunes of Australian cricket.

The duo is expected to join the team for the limited-overs series against Pakistan before the ICC World Cup 2019.

#5 Rise of Afghanistan and Bangladesh

Bangladesh will look to repeat their best performances of 2018

For years, the oppositions barring Zimbabwe have always underrated the Bangladesh cricket team. There were times when the top-ranked teams used to field a second string squad against Bangladesh team. However, 2018 changed the oppositions’ perception about Bangladesh, as they fought toe-to-toe with every opponent in all the three formats.

In Tests, they demolished West Indies at home by winning both the matches as a revenge for their loss in the West Indies a few months back. Besides, they came back from behind and fought hard to draw the series against Zimbabwe 1-1 at home.

There is a huge upward curve in Bangladesh's ODI graph as they reached the finals of tri-series involving Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, and the Asia Cup. In T20Is, their performances in the Nidahas Trophy will remain in the minds of fans of not only Bangladesh but India and Sri Lanka too for a long time.

Afghanistan had a brilliant 2018 as they were awarded the Test status and played their maiden Test against India. Besides, their strong showing in the Asia Cup has already sent a strong warning message to the other teams participating in the World Cup. The war-filled nation will step into the World Cup as the underdogs with plenty of young limited-overs specialists in their squad.

With the cricket’s biggest tournament to be held in 2019, this year will be a crucial year for both these teams.

#4 200 in T20

Rohit has scored four centuries in T20Is

Since the inception of limited-overs format, scoring a century seems to be an excellent achievement as the batsman can only face a certain number of deliveries, unlike Test cricket. It took more than three decades to witness an individual score of 200 in an ODI game.

With plenty of rules favoring batsman, short boundary dimensions, heavy bats, and mainly flat tracks all over the world, batsmen are bullying the bowlers in the limited-overs formats. In the last four years alone, we have seen four 200+ knocks in ODIs. It looks like scoring 200 in an ODI game is not a big task anymore.

In 2018, England posted a mammoth 481 runs in an ODI game against Australia and shattered the record books. Australia chased down a target of 244 in a T20I match against New Zealand with seven balls to spare

In T20Is, Rohit smashed the bowlers for fun, as he became the first player to score four centuries in the format and registered two centuries in 2018 alone. On the other hand, Aaron Finch broke his own record of the highest individual score in the T20I by scoring 172 against Zimbabwe.

Hence, 2019 can be the year in which we can witness the first instance of a batsman scoring 200 in a T20 game.

#3 IPL 2019

IPL 2019 will be watched by all the cricket boards very closely

IPL 2018 will forever be remembered for the remarkable return and triumph of Chennai Super Kings. The dad’s army completely outfoxed the other franchises in their comeback season. Their gamble on experienced (aged) players paid off emphatically, as they became the second team to win the IPL trophy thrice.

Only a few weeks ago, the auction for the IPL 2019 was completed with most of the franchises reshuffling their squad as usual. With the dates of general elections in India clashing with the IPL, there are high chances for the tournament to be moved outside India as in 2009 or 2014.

Besides, ICC World Cup 2019 will commence immediately at the end of IPL 2019. Hence, a majority of the star overseas players will most likely miss the second half of the tournament. Already, players like Aaron Finch, Mitchell Starc, and Glenn Maxwell have voluntarily opted themselves out of the IPL 2019.

With the injury threat looming before the mega ICC event, there is a probability of BCCI ordering the franchises to rest few of the star Indian players in between the tournament.

Hence, all the corresponding cricket boards will closely follow the upcoming season of IPL and monitor the workload of their players.

#2 ICC Test Championship

ICC Test Championship will kick off in July 2019

For those who worried about the future of Test cricket, 2018 gave them a hope that Test cricket is still alive. As mentioned earlier, so many exciting contests took place last year. Now, 2019 will be 'icing on the cake' for the Test lovers, as the ICC Test Championship will finally get underway in 2019 with India’s tour of West Indies in July 2019.

In 2018, out of 48 Tests, 43 yielded results, which is a positive sign for Test cricket. With Test matches started to produce results, more fans will begin to engage with the game’s oldest and longest format. With the introduction of Test Championship, this result will even go higher, as each match will now become more significant.

Since every match plays a prominent role in deciding the winner, all the teams will push for the results instead of opting for dull draws. The fans will also have to keep their eyes on all the Test matches around the world as any game can affect their team’s position in the table.

#1 ICC World Cup 2019

Australia, the defending champions will find it difficult to reach the semi-finals this year

After a long time, England will host the ICC World Cup and will enter the tournament as the heavy favorites along with India. In the history of World Cup, West Indies and Australia have been the only teams to defend their trophies successfully. West Indies won the first two editions of the tournament while the Aussies won three consecutive World Cups in the period 1999-2007.

Besides, Australia is the most successful team in the history of the tournament with five championships under their name. However, the defending champions have been very poor in the last three years in the ODI format. Hence, it will not be a massive surprise if they failed to reach the semi-finals of the upcoming World Cup.

As a result, there is a high probability of a new champion to be crowned in this year. New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan will, as usual, enter the tournament as ‘underdogs.’ West Indies and Sri Lanka look like a pale shadow of themselves.

Will South Africa break their curse of the semi-finals? Will Pakistan replicate their performances of 2017 ICC Champions Trophy? Will England win their elusive trophy? Will Virat Kohli’s team India regain the title that they lost in 2015? Will we see a first time champion in this World Cup?

All these questions will be answered on July 14, 2019.