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The grandest and biggest spectacle in cricket is just a month away and 10 teams are all set to battle it out in England. It doesn't get bigger than this in the Gentlemen's game, and teams have been working hard for this tournament since 2015. This will be the first World Cup in which associate countries won't be a part of.
While England qualified for the World Cup as hosts, seven other teams qualified based on their rankings on the ICC ODI rankings. West Indies and Afghanistan qualified after playing the Qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. The format for this year's World Cup has changed completely from the one in 2015.
The group stage will be played in round-robin format, where all teams will play once against each other. The top 4 teams will qualify for the semi-finals, where the 1st placed team will play against the 4th placed team. In the other semi-final, the 2nd and 3rd placed teams will square off. The winner of both the semi-finals will square off in the final at the prestigious Lord's Cricket Ground.
All teams will be eyeing a top 4 finish, but not all of them can achieve it. On that note, let us have a look at the predicted postions of the teams for the World Cup.
#10 Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka will enter the tournament as the weakest team on paper. They don't have a single player of whom the opposition will fear. Lasith Malinga is no longer the same bowler and the likes of Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews haven't been as consistent as they would have liked.
Their captain, Dimuth Karunaratne hasn't played a single ODI since 2015 and his selection in the squad is a big talking point in itself. He has an average of 15 in ODI cricket and has a dismal strike rate of 68.84. Lahiru Thirimanne hasn't played an ODI for 15 months and even he has been selected. He has a strike rate of 71 and such strike rates won't help in England.
On the whole, their squad looks really weak and there is no X-Factor in their squad and at this point, it is difficult to see them finish above 10th place.
#9 Afghanistan
Afghanistan qualified for the World Cup thanks to their triumphant run in the Qualifiers' tournament. With Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman in their ranks, they have one of the best spin attacks in the world. These three are surely going to cause nightmares to the opposition batsmen and even the thought of facing them for a combined 30 overs is scary.
Their batting will have the likes of Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan. However, their X-Factor will be the young and fearless, Hazratullah Zazai. He has immense talent and showed that when he scored 162 runs in 62 balls against Ireland in a T20I. They also have pacers who can clock speeds in excess of 135 kph.
They have a decent squad, but a slightly weak batting line-up could lead to their downfall. They will be no pushovers but their chances of winning against the likes of Australia, England and South Africa are quite slim. However, they can put up strong fights against teams like West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, whom they have defeated in the past.
#8 West Indies
West Indies have managed to include Chris Gayle and Andre Russell in their squad. This comes as a huge advantage for the Windies. They also have Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer and Darren Bravo in the batting department. Shai Hope will be the first choice wicket-keeper and Nicholas Pooran will be back-up.
Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite will be the pace-bowling all-rounders and these 2 can strike a long ball. Their spin bowling resources are weak as the likes of Ashley Nurse and Fabian Allen haven't really shown any sort of wicket-taking threat. Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas, Shannon Gabriel and Sheldon Cottrell are there as the fast bowlers.
While their squad looks pretty dangerous, players like Russell and Lewis haven't been successful in the 50-over format and if they fail to perform, their chances will take a massive hit.
#7 Bangladesh
Bangladesh always has a tendency of playing their best cricket in ICC tournaments and have caused quite a few upsets over the years. They managed to knock out England and qualify for the quarter-finals in the last World Cup, and they even qualified for the semis in the Champions Trophy.
Their hopes will be carried by Tamim Iqbal, Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Mustafizur Rahman. Sabbir Rahman, Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar will have important roles to play as batsmen. Mehidy Hasan will have to support Shakib as the 2nd spinner, when the need arises.
Their fast bowling stocks are quite good with Mashrafe Mortaza, Abu Jayed, Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain. Abu Jayed could prove to be the X-factor because of his minimal experience at the international level.
While West Indies seem to have a better squad on paper, Bangladesh bring out their best in these tournaments and hence, they have been placed higher.
#6 Pakistan
Pakistan will enter the tournament as underdogs and they will be the surprise package. They are highly unpredictable and can defeat any team on their day. They won the Champions Trophy at England in 2017, and one would be a folly to write them off before the World Cup starts.
They will be led by wicket-keeper batsman, Sarfaraz Ahmed and he will hold key to their chances. They are expected to go in with Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman as their opening combination. Both of them have been highly impressive in their short international careers. Babar Azam, Haris Sohail and Shoaib Malik will man the middle order. Azam will be one of their most important batsmen and his wicket could be the most prized one.
Faheem Ashraf will be their fast bowling all-rounder. Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan will be the spinners and they will pose a serious threat to opposition batsmen. Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali will be the senior fast bowlers. Young pacers, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain will be the X-Factors in the squad, and this team could prove to be a handful on their day.
#5 New Zealand
New Zealand have performed extremely well in ICC tournaments and always enter as dark-horses. They have an extremely potent bowling attack which will be led by Trent Boult. He will have swing bowler, Tim Southee and express pace bowlers, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson to support him.
Mitchell Santner will be the first choice spinner and he is the perfect foil to the more attacking bowlers in the squad. He is a highly economical bowler and will chip in with a wicket or two. Ish Sodhi will also be there in the spin department.
Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor will be the most important batsmen for New Zealand. They will be assisted by Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham as well. Colin Munro will provide them with the X-Factor when given the opportunity. James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme are the medium pace all-rounders in the squad and they are highly dangerous with the bat.
While they aren't in the top 4 in this list, it shouldn't surprise many if they manage to qualify for the semi-finals.
#4 South Africa
South Africa will once again enter an ICC tournament with high expectations. They have a formidable squad and although AB de Villiers will be missed, they have newcomer, Rassie van der Dussen to compensate for the loss. He has been terrific in his short international career as he has scored his runs at an average of 88.25 in his 9 ODI's.
The likes of Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Aiden Markram and David Miller have been in good form, and that bodes well for the batting department. Their bowling attack is one that opposition teams don't want to face. They have express pace bowlers in the form of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi. They will also have the services of South African legend, Dale Steyn. Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi will lead the spin department.
They also have pace bowling all-rounders such as Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo, who give the team a balanced look.
#3 India
India is also among the favorites to lift the World Cup. They have won on two occasions, and they will look to bring it back home for a third time. They have a solid batting line-up which will be headed by Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. They will have a slightly inexperienced Vijay Shankar as their No. 4 batsman.
MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya will be aggressive batsmen in the playing XI and they will look to up the ante during the latter half of the innings. They have a solid bowling attack with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
They have a really good squad at their disposal, and they have been brilliant in overseas conditions. India will look to continue their good run of form, and it will be a massive disappointment for them if they fail to qualify for the semis.
#2 Australia
Australia was written off by a lot of people before the start of 2019 because of their poor run of form in the ODIs. They hardly won any games in 2018 and it looked like it would continue. However, they proved their doubters wrong with a brilliant outing in their next 13 games. They won 9 of those games and defeated India and Pakistan away from home, and showed that they are serious title contenders.
They achieved those victories without the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc which makes it even more impressive. Their squad has all bases covered and there is no apparent weakness. Their fast bowling pack is superb with as many as five top quality bowlers in Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, and Jhye Richardson.
All of them can bowl at express speeds and they can also extract bounce on any kind of surface. They can also swing the ball and bowl at the death. Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon will be the two spinners for them.
Their batting line-up is power packed with the likes of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis. However, their biggest strength will undoubtedly be the batting prowess of Warner and Smith, who have been scoring runs for fun in the IPL.
#1 England
England will start off as hot favorites to lift the trophy and there are numerous reasons for this. They will be playing at home, meaning that they will have an added advantage, especially in crunch games. They have one of the most formidable batting line-ups with the likes of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, and Jos Buttler in the mix. The fact that Alex Hales will be a back-up is sure to scare opposition teams.
They have a lot of all-rounders in their squad with the likes of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali as the key men. Bowlers such as Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood are also present, and one can never forget the fact that Jofra Archer could still walk into the squad.
They have quality players in all departments of the game, and this is arguably their best chance of lifting the coveted trophy.
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