The White ball revolution: England start as favourites in World Cup for the first time

When was the last time you heard someone saying 'England are the best ODI team'.15 years ago? Maybe 25? Even further back? No! As a matter of fact, we haven't come across any such English team. But what is so different about the current white ball team that makes it best in the world? What has changed so drastically, that has made the same team from the last World Cup down under to become potential champs for the 2019 World Cup?

It was March 9 2015, the day England fans will never forget those horrifying images of Jimmy Anderson getting bowled by Rubel Hossain! "England are out of the the tournament!," said Nasser Hussain.

As they say 'You only get up after you have fallen down.' Well, England surely have gotten up! Just to remind you that England haven't lost a single ODI series since 2016 is an accomplishment in itself. And they have continued their streak of success by winning their 9th ODI series against the Lankan "Lions".To know the turnaround we might just have to dissect their squad and bit of stats considering my 11.

Destructive opening pair!

History says it all, from the West Indies of the 1980s to the Australian side of the 2000s to this day, every champion side has been blessed with some great openers. From Greenidge & Haynes, Hayden & Gilchrist, Sachin & Sehwag, now Rohit & Dhawan. The same goes with the current English side.

Jason Roy and Johnny Bairstow are truly a powerful combo when it comes to the limited overs game. Roy showed what he's capable of with that brilliant 180 against the Aussies. And if you look at the stats, Bairstow became the first player to reach 1000 ODI runs in this calendar year. Both Bairstow and Roy pile up runs so quickly that their srike-rates are in aexcess of 100 at a healthy avg of 48+ and 37+ respectively.

Even if there's some trouble, they've got another dashing opener in the form of Alex Hales who connects quite well. They can just go with any combo they want.

Depth in the middle order

At present, there seems to be no other team that can boast about their middle order except England. With Root, Morgan and Stokes, you get class, experience, and power. Root at this stage is almost equal to what Kohli was at the same amount of runs, with a staggering 50+ avg, England's record holder for most no of ODI tons is surely a class act. Him along with Morgan, England's highest run-getter in this format, set the tone of the game nicely and with their temperament, they make things look easier by playing calm and composed cricket, in a way paving the way for big-hitters like Stokes and Butler to take to the opposition.

Butler and Stokes are a deadly combination, they remind one of Yuvraj and Dhoni when they were at their best. They don't just slog, but they play it smart. The plan their end overs brilliantly. It's a big positive to have such great batsmen coming at no. 6 and someone like Ben Stokes coming at no 7 or even no 5, who will do his full quota of 10 overs and score some invaluable runs with the bat. To add more worries to the opposition they have got a gem of an all-rounder in the name of Chris Woakes, who is just perfect no 7/8 on those English pitches.

Proper bowling attack

Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and David Willey. They got some real pace in there. Woakes can get you wickets both at the top and at the death. Willey can hurry the batsman, yet hit the deck hard and place those in right areas. They have been consistent and economical, especially Mark Wood. Adil Rashid, who has the highest no of wickets by a spinner in this calendar year, is also present.

Strength on the bench

Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Jake ball and Liam Plunkett. Everybody's got that knack of doing things exactly what's expected of them, It's all looking good for England.

While there were chants of "It's coming home" during the FIFA 2018, which eventually didn't go well, but With world cup being held in England, this team is fully equipped to gun down any opposition.

Will have to wait and see whether England will face a similar crisis as before or will they continue the trend set by India and Australia by winning it in their own backyard and rise to the possibly potential Barmy Army's chants, "It's staying home."