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The 2019 Cricket World Cup is scheduled to be played from 30th May to 14th July in England and Wales. This will be the fifth time that the World Cup will be played in England. Unlike those previous editions, the teams are not divided into groups.
There is only a single group consisting of all the teams with each team playing against the other once. The top four teams from the group stage will qualify for the knockouts. The first match will be played at the Oval while the final is held at the prestigious Lords. Eight teams automatically qualified based on ICC ODI rankings as on 30th of September 2017.
Afghanistan and West Indies were the two teams that made it to the list from the Qualifiers. All the teams were instructed to announce their 15-men squad by 23rd of April 2019. With the list coming out, let us look at surprise omissions from each team.
#1 India - Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant missed the bus as he was left out of the 15-member squad for the World Cup. Having played in 9 Tests, 5 ODIs and 15 T20s for India, he is believed to be the replacement for MS Dhoni. He made his international debut in the T20I against England in Bengaluru.
Even though he was a part of ODI squad against West Indies in 2017, he had to wait until October 2018 to play his first match. He played two more ODIs in the same series but failed to perform. Besides, he performed well against Australia and England in Tests with a century each.
Even though he performed well with the bat, his wicket-keeping skills came into scrutiny because of which Dinesh Karthik was preferred as the reserve keeper with the experience he carries.
#2 Australia – Peter Handscomb
The decision to exclude Peter Handscomb from the 15-member squad was very strange. Inc ase Alex Cary, who is selected. gets injured, they will be left with no one to stand behind the stumps. Also, if there was someone who deserved a spot in the team, it was Handscomb. It was him who sorted Australia’s middle order woes in the last 12 months.
Not only was he a good player of pace, he was also able to tackle spin bowlers easily. He was one of the main reasons for the series win against India in March. To support that, he has scored 479 runs at 43.55 in 11 matches after his return to the squad. To make place for Steve Smith, Handscombhad to sacrifice his place.
It's a surprise that Australia have not picked him as a backup wicket keeper.
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#3 England - Jofra Archer
He plays for Sussex in first-class and has been a good prospect for the team overall. He has taken 131 wickets at an average of 23.44 and has scored over 1000 runs down the order. Besides, he is an excellent fielder. All of these helped find a spot in the 2018 Indian Premier League.
Jofra Archer justified his talent taking three wickets in his debut match. Even in this season he is leading the wickets chart for Rajasthan. It was unfortunate that he was left out of the 15 men squad. A positive note is that he is part of the squad that plays against Pakistan and Ireland.
This means he has an outside chance to get into the team. The series against Pakistan will be his international debut series. He is expected to give his best to get selected for the World Cup squad.
#4 Sri Lanka – Dinesh Chandimal
Dinesh Chandimal was a technically sound middle order batsman with 3599 runs in 146 ODIs. He also kept wickets well. He was also the youngest ODI captain for Sri Lanka, when he led the squad against South Africa in 2013.
From his debut in 2010 until his recent appearance he has been instrumental in team’s success because of the amount of talent and potential he possesses. Everything was going well until 2016 for Chandimal. Post 2016, he has only managed 566 runs in 24 innings at an abysmal average of 24.6.
He was someone who stood against the tide whenever the team was in trouble in the past. But his inconsistency has played a vital role for his omission from the squad. Interestingly, he was the captain for the home series against England in 2018 and did reasonably well with the bat too.
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#5 New Zealand – Tim Siefert
When the New Zealand team was announced for the World Cup, it was clear that the selectors looked at the ‘keeping-skills’ of the back-up wicket keeper rather than the batting ability.
You must have already guessed the name of the player I am talking about. Yes, it is about Tim Seifert who wasn’t taken into the squad. He has been a very good find in the recent times who can strike at more than 150. That innings against India (86 off 43 balls) in the first T20 was an example.
He is a decent keeper too and could have played the role of a finisher. Unfortunately, he failed to cement his place as Tom Blundell was picked ahead of him.
#6 West Indies – Kieron Pollard
The 15-men West Indies squad for the 2019 World Cup has been finally announced with Kieron Pollard failing to make the cut. The Trinidadian all-rounder is effective with his medium-pace bowling as well as some explosive batting down the order.
To add to this, his recent form for Mumbai Indians has been impressive with a strike-rate of 175. But it has been more than two years since he played his last ODI which would have reduced his chances.
Selecting him could have been justified with the experience he carries, but his inconsistency in ODIs has been a major worry.
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#7 South Africa – Chris Morris
Chris Morris has been exceptional with the ball for Delhi Capitals taking 11 wickets in 7 matches in this year’s IPL. It seems that wasn’t enough as the South African bowling all-rounder missed the flight to England.
He has represented South Africa in 34 ODIs in which he has scalped 35 wickets. He is that type of player who has variety in his bowling. He has also been handy with the bat scoring quick runs down the order. He had the experience of playing in good tournaments but it seems young talent like Andile Phehlukwayo was given a nod ahead of him.
#8 Bangladesh – Imrul Kayes
The Bangladesh team for the 2019 World Cup was announced early in the week. One of the biggest names to have been dropped from the list is Imrul Kayes. Kayes has been a top order batsman for Bangladesh who has played in 76 ODIs accumulating 2430 runs.
He has been successful in big tournaments and has dine well in the previous global events. His experience would have played a major role in providing good starts to the team. But the selection committee has showered its hopes on Liton Das who has been a dashing top order batsman.
#9 Afghanistan – Shapoor Zadran
Shapoor Zadran isn’t part of the Afghanistan team that is travelling to England for the World Cup. This 6 ft 8 in pacer has been one of the consistent bowlers for the squad. Having made his international debut against the Netherlands in 2009, he proved his ability by taking 4 for 24 in 10 overs, which are still his best figures.
He has played 44 ODIs taking 43 wickets during the course. More than anything, in the 2015 World Cup he captured 10 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 26.50 and an economy of 5.19 which speaks of the experience he carries. His dip in form cost him a place in the squad.
#10 Pakistan – Mohammed Amir
The Pakistan squad for the World Cup has been announced and to everyone’s surprise, Mohammad Amir has been left out. The left-arm pacer has been lethal in English conditions and has the potential of winning matches for the team single-handedly. It was him who ripped apart the Indian top-order in the 2017 Champions Trophy final that led them to a comprehensive victory.
Ironically, after that stunning bowling effort, he has managed to take only five wickets in ODI at an average of 92.60 bowling 101 overs in that span of time. We can clearly conclude that this has been the main reason for his exclusion. But, with conditions favoring him, he can prove to be very effective.
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