CWC 2019: Ranking the opening combination for each team

The biggest cricket tournament in the world ‘ICC Cricket World Cup’ is scheduled to begin from 30 May in England. The cricket boards of all the teams participating in the tourney have announced their 15-member squad which can be modified by 23rd of this month. This World Cup is expected to be a high scoring tournament as conditions in England have been batting-friendly in recent times.

The openers who set the platform for other batsmen of the team become crucial in high scoring matches. Scoring at a quick run rate in middle overs would be easy for teams if they get a good start by top-order batsmen in powerplay. England has the best run-rate in middle overs since World Cup 2015. And, this is why they have been able to score 300+ scores for 37 times since World Cup 2015. Besides discussing the opening pair of each team, we have ranked teams on the basis of their opening combination.

10. Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka will have to play extremely well to compete against teams like India and England

Sri Lanka has named a strange squad for this World Cup. Dimuth Karunaratne who played his last ODI match on 1 March 2015 is their captain and will be probably one of the openers. The other opener for 1996 World Champions is expected to be either Avishka Fernando or Lahiru Thirimanne. Their opening combination is the weakest among all the teams in the World Cup.

9. Afghanistan:

Afghanistan will be looking to do well this time

The opening pair for Afghanistan is not settled for the World Cup. Mohammad Shahzad will be one of the openers but the opener at the other end would be a topic of discussion. Hazratullah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran are the possible partners of Shahzad. The duo of Shahzad and Zadran has opened for Afghanistan till 2017 and had a decent average of about 33.

8. Bangladesh:

Quarter-finalists of the previous edition, Bangladesh will be looking to better their record at the World Cup

The runner-up of Asia Cup and quarter-finalists of CWC 2015, Bangladesh also have problems in their batting unit and unstable opening pair adds woes in it. They don't have a stable opening partner for veteran Tamim Iqbal. Anyone between Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar will be the opening partner of Tamim. The numbers suggest that Sarkar should open with Tamim as the duo of ‘Tamim-Sarkar’ averages 44.61 while the pair of ‘Tamim-Das’ averages only about 28.

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7. New Zealand:

New Zealand's opening pair will be crucial for their performance

The aggressive duo of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro is the expected opening pair for New Zealand in the World Cup. The duo has managed to score only 508 runs with an extremely poor average of about 25 with no century stand against their name. The team management of New Zealand can give chance to Henry Nicholls to open the innings if the duo of ‘Guptill-Munro’ fails regularly in the World Cup.

6. Pakistan:

Pakistan will be hoping to replicate their performance from the Champions Trophy 2017

The duo of both the left-handed batsmen Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq has been regular opening pair for Pakistan since October 2017. Fakhar plays aggressively while Imam plays the anchoring role. Averaging about 58, they have scored 1267 runs with 4 century and 5 half-century stands in just 24 innings. This duo has also remained not-out for twice so far. Both the openers scored a century in recently concluded ODI series against England.

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5. West Indies:

West Indies will be hoping to get Russel's IPL form going in the World Cup

The duo of Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis is the expected to be the opening pair for West Indies in the World Cup. Their numbers while batting together would not give enough confidence to Windies fans. The duo has managed to score only 383 runs with a terrible average of less than 30. However, On the given day if they get going then no bowling attack could stop them. If they need to reach the semi-finals these two need to give the much-needed punch at the top.

4. South Africa:

South Africa will try their best to get past the knockout stage

The duo of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock has been the most successful batting pair for South Africa. The left-handed batsman de Kock plays aggressively batsman while Hashim Amla plays the anchoring role. Playing together for more than nine years together, they have scored 4116 runs with 10 century and 15 half-century stands.

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3. Australia:

Australia will be aiming to successfully defend the title

The opening pair of David Warner and Aaron Finch had been very explosive for Australia till 2018 and the ‘Kangaroos’ will be hoping for the same in the upcoming World Cup. Batting together since 2014, this duo has scored 2126 runs in with a healthy average of more than 44. Along with five-century stands and ten half-century stands, the highest partnership between Warner and Australian skipper Finch is of 231 runs.

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2. England:

England start as everyone's favourite contenders for winning the cup

Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow have formed England’s best batting pair in recent times. The fireworks, from both the ends, are guaranteed, every time the duo takes the field. While batting together, they have scored 1762 runs with an astonishing average of nearing 57. In just 30 innings, the duo has put up seven-century stands and eight half-century stands. This implies that they have scored 50+ runs for 15 times in just 30 innings.

1. India:

The duo of Rohit-Dhawan is the second most successful Indian pair after the duo of Sachin-Ganguly. The reason why we have placed Rohit-Dhawan ahead of Roy-Bairstow because of the longevity. Along with Virat Kohli, the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan has carried the burden of Indian batting unit since Champions Trophy 2013. The duo of Rohit and Dhawan has the best average among all the Indian pairs who have batted for more than 100 innings together. In 103 innings, the pair of Rohit-Dhawan has scored 4586 runs with an excellent average of almost 45.

The duo has fifteen-century stands and thirteen half-century stands against their name with the highest partnership of 210 runs. Despite being opening pair of the team, they have also remained not-out for one time. The best thing about this duo is that they compliment each other very well. Dhawan scores at a quick run-rate when Rohit needs time to settle and vice-versa.