ICC World Cup 2019: 4 key factors which could impact the tournament

When the new year arrived, the cricket fans were a bit more excited than the others because of the fact that 2019 is a World Cup year. The ICC World Cup, which takes place after every four years, will take place in 2019.

As per the schedule, the World Cup starts on 30 May and the final will be held on 14th July. England will be the hosts of this edition of the World Cup and the final will take place at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground.

Australia will start the tournament as defending champions as they lifted the trophy in 2015 at home under the captaincy of Michael Clarke. Many legends like MS Dhoni, Hashim Amla and Lasith Malinga will be playing their last World Cup and it would be interesting to see how they perform on the big stage for one last time.

On the other hand, we will also see some youngsters like Aiden Markram, Rashid Khan and Jasprit Bumrah in their first World Cup appearance.

There are many interesting factors to watch out for in this World Cup. So, let’s have a look at four key factors which could impact the 2019 World Cup.

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#4 10-team tournament should mean fewer mismatches

Afghanistan's meteoric rise should augur well for the upcoming tournament

The 2019 edition of the World Cup will be a ten-team tournament. The top eight teams qualified directly whereas Afghanistan and Windies were the other two who qualified from the qualifiers. The decision of going with only ten teams in the World Cup can be looked at in two ways.

Due to the absence of many Associate nations, there won’t be many games where the stronger team just blows away the weaker one. There were quite a lot one-sided games in the last World Cup which might not be the case this time.

Having said that, the ten team tournament doesn’t allow the Associate nations to participate in the greatest tournament of cricket. There are many players from the lesser known nations who deserve to play the World Cup but it won’t be possible for them.

#3 Revamped format will call for consistency and durability

This round-robin format was last seen in the 1992 World Cup

Not only do we have a different number of teams in this World Cup but also the format of the tournament is completely different than the last few editions. We don’t have the traditional format where the teams will be divided into two groups and then four teams from each group are selected.

In this edition, there is only one group where all teams have been slotted in. All teams will play each other once and then the top four teams will progress to the semifinals.

This format will test the consistency and fitness of each team as they have to play nine games on the trot. So unpredictable teams might find it very difficult to make the semis. Each team will have to win at least five matches to stand a chance to make the last four.

This format was last adopted in the 1992 World Cup and it will be interesting to see how the tournament shapes up.

#2 Possibility of flat pitches and high scores

England scored a mammoth 481 against Australia last year

After the early exit of England in the 2015 World Cup, they changed their approach to the 50-over format. They prepared flat pitches and started scoring in excess of 300 pretty easily. Suddenly 350 has become a par score and anything less than 300 is just not enough.

England have already set high standards by smashing the highest ODI total of all-time. Their 481 against Australia last year is quite a massive benchmark.

The story could well be similar in the upcoming World Cup. With the tournament taking place in England, we could see some pretty flat pitches and high scores. The quality of bowling will be heavily tested as the competition could come down to batting muscle.

It wouldn’t be surprising if many batting records are broken. England, India and New Zealand have some formidable limited-overs batsmen and it will be a great competition between them. With these kinds of pitches, there will be plenty of boundaries and hence entertainment guaranteed for the crowd.

#1 Wrist-spinners could lead the way

Teams will be looking at their wrist-spinners to deliver wickets

With pitches getting flat and the ball not swinging, the only way to stop the batsmen is by getting wickets in the middle-overs. Who better than wrist-spinners to do the job? The resurgence of wrist-spin in the last couple of years has been tremendous. It could be suicidal to go into the World Cup without a wrist-spinner.

India have their special wrist-spin combination in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal whereas Afghanistan have the best leg-spinner in Rashid Khan. The hosts will go in with Adil Rashid and South Africa will go with veteran Imran Tahir. Shadab Khan and Ish Sodhi can deliver the goods for Pakistan and New Zealand respectively.

It will be a great contest between these wrist spinners in this World Cup on those flat pitches. Finger-spinners may go for plenty and quality wrist-spinners could take center-stage in the 2019 World Cup.