ICC World Cup 2019: 4 dark horse teams that could surprise in England

The ICC World Cup 2019 will commence from 30th May 2019 as all the top 10 cricketing nations would compete against each other in round robin format. This format is similar to 1992 tournament where the top 4 teams will qualify for the semis.

The beauty of this mega event is that in every edition it has thrown lots of surprises and this World Cup won't be any different. In 1983, India surprised everyone by defeating the mighty West Indies while in 1992, the underdogs Pakistan became the World Champions. Sri Lanka, who was not a big team during 1996, won the mega event in 1996.

There have lots of upsets in the World Cup history. In 2007, India and Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament in the very first round, while in 2015, England was knocked out by Bangladesh.

With England and India among the top favorites in this tournament, let us find out the teams who could be the dark horses and could possess a serious threat to other teams.

#4 Afghanistan

Afghanistan debuted in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

The success story of Afghanistan in the international cricket has been nothing less than a fairytale story. In the past two years, the Afghan team has taken giant strides and are getting stronger with every match.

Afghanistan had won the World Cup qualifiers by beating West Indies in the finals. As a result of this win, they are now qualified for the mega event and would compete with remaining nine teams.

Afghanistan is no ordinary team as they possess a very strong bowling line-up which includes the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. Rashid is the number one T20 bowler in the world while in the ODI Rankings he is placed at number 2.

This team has a decent batting order with Mohammad Shahzad and Usman Ghani at the top who play their shots fearlessly. The middle order is a stable one with the likes of skipper Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, and Mohammad Nabi. Also, Rashid Khan and Shaqiullah Shafiq can add more firepower in the lower order.

Overall, the Stanikzai led team looks a decent team and with most of the teams are suspectable to spin bowling, the Afghans might have a great chance to do something special.

#3 Bangladesh

In 2017 Champions Trophy Bangladesh had qualified for the semis.

Bangladesh has come a long way after ICC granted them full membership in cricket. Since their inception, they were treated as minnows and except for few upsets they never looked like a challenging team. Now they are no more minnows and have performed consistently especially in the limited overs cricket.

The Bangla tigers have also done well in the ICC tournaments. In 2007 World Cup, they knocked India out of the tournament and qualified for super sixes round. In 2015 World Cup, they had progressed to quarterfinals, and in 2017 Champions Trophy they had knocked out New Zealand to qualify for semis.

Bangladesh has a great batting unit which comprises of key players like Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushqifur Rahim and Mahmudullah. The bowling also looks decent with likes of Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, and Shakib.

With the kind of balance they possess, they could be a big threat to many teams and are surely one of the dark horses in this tournament.

#2 South Africa

Ab de Villiers has left a big void in the African team after he announced retirement

South Africa has been a very competitive team and one of the favorites in almost every World Cup tournament. This time around without Ab de Villiers, the African team has lost its biggest matchwinner and would have to compete very hard to get better of other teams.

The Proteas still has enough firepower to beat any side and will surely start as one of the dark horse team in the mega event. The bowling line up looks one of the strongest bowling with Kasigo Rabada, Lungi Nidi, Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo in the fast bowling department, while Imran Tahir will lead the spin attack along with JP Duminy as a part-time bowler.

The batting also looks solid with Hashim Amla and De Cock at the top while skipper Faf du Plessis, Duminy, Henrich Klassen and David Miller will shoulder the responsibility of the middle order.

South Africa has the ability to go all the way and might surprise everyone with their potential.

#1 Pakistan

Pakistan celebrate after winning the Champions Trophy 2017

Pakistan is the most unpredictable team when it comes to ICC tournaments. Their unpredictability is their biggest strength as they can surprise any team on any given day.

In the Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan started off in the most bizarre fashion as they tasted defeat in their very first match against India. It seemed that they would struggle in the tournament, but to everyone's surprise, they became the champions beating India by 180 runs in the finals.

Pakistan has great depth in their bowling with Mohammad Amir leading the pace attack along with Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan and many more. In the spin department, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez will look to control the middle overs.

The batting department looks decent with Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali in the opening slot while Babar Azam, Sarfraz Khan, Hafeez, and Malik will add more stability in the middle order. Allrounders like Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim would add more value to the team.

Pakistan has a well-balanced squad, and with their unpredictability factor, they are surely one of the dark horses in this competition.