Strongest playing XI for each team in the 2019 World Cup

2019 is here and this year will be an exciting one for all the cricket aficionados as the 2019 ICC World Cup will be taking place in England from May 30 till July 14.

The 46-day tournament will be played across 11 world-class venues in the United Kingdom with each team taking on the nine other teams in the tournament in the league phase and the top four teams from the league phase will play in the semi-finals.

The deadline for announcing the squads will be in the third week of April. Most of the teams have their squads and playing XIs fixed while some of them have a few areas to address before the World Cup.

Let us take a look at the strongest possible playing XIs for each of the ten teams in the tournament.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan qualified for the 2019 World Cup in a miraculous style. They were facing exit after the first three matches of the 2018 ICC World Cup qualifiers but somehow managed to turn things around and went all the way in the tournament to earn their spot in the prestigious tournament.

The Afghanistan unit has some exciting batsmen in their ranks and if they click, they can pounce on any bowling attack in the world. With the ball, the Afghans are bombarded with spin bowlers who can trouble any batsman in the world.

Even though their rise in international cricket has been fantastic, it will be difficult for them to go all the way in the tournament. They will look to win two or three matches in the World Cup and that will make their campaign a successful one.

Strongest Afghanistan XI: Mohammad Shahzad (WK), Hazarathullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hazmathullah Shaidi, Asghar Afghan (C), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Aftab Alam.

Australia

The last two years have been forgettable for Australia in white-ball cricket and the bans imposed on David Warner and Steve Smith for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal didn't help their cause.

Though both Warner and Smith will return after the bans and are expected to be a part of the World Cup, the Aussies will not enter the tournament as the top-2 sides. But, World Cup is one tournament in which they have a great track record and with Warner and Smith having a lot to prove as they would look to get rid of the bad image they got in South Africa last year, one cannot take them lightly.

With Smith returning to Australia after one year, it is still unclear on whether he will be given the reins of captaincy or will Finch remain the captain till the World Cup.

Strongest Australia XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (WK), Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins.

Bangladesh

The rise of Bangladesh cricket in ODIs has been fantastic over the last few years as they have beaten almost every single touring side and even managed to register a few wins overseas.

With the golden generation of Bangladesh cricket being in their peak, this is the best chance for Bangladesh to go out and prove that they are not pushovers anymore. The made it to the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup and the semis of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and they will look to put in similar performances in England later this year.

Strongest Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain.

England

Ever since the end of the 2015 World Cup, England started preparing for the 2019 World Cup that will be taking place in their own backyard and made a lot of changes to their ODI squad. Led by a charismatic Eoin Morgan, England will be entering the World Cup as favourites to win the tournament.

They have a long batting order and every single player in the team can contribute with the bat. The addition of Jofra Archer will give the English bowling attack a new lease of life as he will strengthen the death bowling.

Archer is yet to play an international match for England and is expected to get his British citizenship in March which will make him eligible to play for England. England chief selector Ed Smith has not ruled out the possibility of Archer making it to the World Cup without playing a single match.

Strongest England XI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer and Liam Plunkett

India

Without a doubt, India go into the World Cup as the pre-tournament favourites and it is safe to put the money on Virat Kohli and his men to go all the way in the World Cup. This Indian team easily have the best top-order with the likes of two of the best ODI batsmen at the moment, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan is not far behind the duo in the format.

With the ball, they have a strong attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and have two of the world's best spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the XI. The only concern for them will be the misfiring middle-order and the team management will be hoping that their batsmen will come to the party in England this June.

Strongest India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.

New Zealand

As always, New Zealand go into the 2019 World Cup as the underdogs. Over the last two years, the Kiwis have shown that they can be a force to reckon with in ODIs as they troubled India in India and Pakistan in UAE, something that is very difficult to do irrespective of the format.

This Kiwi unit has the right mix of aggression and composure with some as consistent as Kane Williamson leading the side, the Kiwis should look to make it to the next round of the tournament. With his recent heroics, Jimmy Neesham might have got the edge over Colin de Grandhomme.

Strongest New Zealand XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (WK), Henry Nicholls, Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi and Trent Boult.

Pakistan

Pakistan are always the dark horses for any ICC tournament which is very evident from the fact that they went on to shock the world by winning the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and now, they will be returning to the same territory that gave them the glory a couple of years back.

Their playing XI is all but sorted as they have a fantastic bowling unit backed reliable batsmen. Middle-order batsman Babar Azam and opener Fakhar Zaman will hold all aces for Pakistan with the bat while Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan will look to dictate with the ball.

Strongest Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C and WK), Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Amir.

South Africa

One of the major talking points for South Africa going into the World Cup will be the absence of their star batsman AB de Villiers as he has already announced his retirement from the sport last year.

In his absence, it will be a toss-up between Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram with the former being a better bet in the middle-order. In spite of his recent heroics, Reeza Hendricks might be forced to warm the bench, thanks to the return of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock.

Without a doubt, the Proteas have a solid bowling attack which is probably among the two best bowling attacks in the tournament.

Strongest South Africa XI: Quinton de Kock (WK), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (C), Heinrich Klaasen, JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir and Dale Steyn.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will go into the World Cup at the back of some dismal performances in ODIs of late. They will have two important things to address going into the tournament, the availability of Angelo Mathews and who will captain the team in the tournament. Mathews was dropped from the limited-overs side for the series against England due to fitness issues and he made a statement in the Test series against New Zealand. They cannot afford to leave him out because he is still their best batsman in the format.

Over the last two years, Sri Lanka have tried a lot of players for captaincy and with just five months to go for the World Cup, they are yet to finalize the man who will be leading them in the extravaganza.

Strongest Sri Lanka XI: Niroshan Dickwella (WK), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjeya, Lasith Malinga and Suranga Lakmal.

Akila Dananjeya has been their best spinner in white ball cricket and currently, he is suspended for suspect bowling action. If he fails to get his action cleared by the World Cup, Lakshan Sandakan could get his place in the XI.

West Indies

West Indies could be a strong force to reckon with if they manage to get the services of some of their star players. The likes of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine etc. can make a young West Indian team look threatening.

The likes of Marlon Samuels, Carlos Brathwaite and Evin Lewis could be in contention for a place in the XI but thanks to the recent performances of some of the players, they might be made to warm the bench in the World Cup.

Strongest West Indies XI: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (WK), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (C), Keemo Paul, Sunil Narine, Oshane Thomas and Kemar Roach.

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