Cricket World Cup 2019 - What to Expect

10 teams, 45 group matches and 3 knock-out matches – Cricket World cup has never been like this since 1992. To many people, 1992 world cup was a landmark for the introduction of colored kits, white ball, new format and the first appearance of South Africa. But the format of each team playing with each and everyone could never be repeated due to the increasing number of teams. However, to improve the quality of the cricket at its highest level, International Cricket Council (ICC) has reduced the number of teams from 14 to 10 and has gone back to the format of 1992.

How will be the World cup 2019

Up to 2011 world cup, cricket was changing gradually at a slow pace. But, after that, cricket is changing quickly. Before 2011, any team would have been happy with a score above 250. It would have given both the team 50-50 chance. But since then, the batsmen have improved their game a lot. Teams have been scoring above 350 frequently. And even with a score above 350, no team is assured to defend their total. In the 2015 world cup, teams have crossed 400 for 3 occasions, and in 4 occasions the scores were above 350. Now, the 2015 world cup was held jointly in Australia and New-Zealand. The pitches there are more known as batting friendly fast pitches. That is quite like the pitches of England, the venue of this year’s world cup. Mostly the pitches will help the batsmen. There might be some morning dew which can help the bowling team first half an hour or so. But, in general, it will be a batting feast. We can see scores above 350 more frequently. The most fascinating part is, even with a score of 350 and above, teams are not guaranteed a win now. Out of 10 successful chases of scores above 350, only 3 were before 2015. Among the rest of the successful chases, 3 has occurred this year. England was the winning team twice of those three occasions and both were at England. These high score encounters show that this year’s world cup can be very tough for the bowlers. Any team with good batting depth can do good in this world cup but to win the tournament or even go up to the knockout phase a great bowling line up is a prerequisite. Teams not only need to put a good amount of run; the bowlers have to defend it with their variety. Because England’s pitches do not do much for the spinners, most of the job has to be done by the seamers.

Cricket World Cup 2019 from Batsman’s point of view

Among the top batting records like – most runs in all the world cups, most runs in one tournament, the highest number of centuries, the highest score in a match etc. most of them are far away from the reach of current players. Sachin Tendulker holds both the record for most runs in all the world cups and most runs in one tournament. He scored 2278 in 45 matches. The closest current player is Chris Gayle with 944 runs in 26 matches and there is no reason to think any current player can put even the slightest challenge to Sachin’s that record. Sachin Tendulker also scored 673 runs at an average of 61.18 in the 2003 world cup which is the most runs in one world cup. In 2015, Martin Guptil scored 547 runs at an average of 68.37, playing 2 fewer matches than Tendulker. It shows that if the batsmen can carry on such a good average there is a possibility that record can be broken this year. Among the current batsmen, Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Rohit Sharma all have the capability to break this record. Virat has scored 3242 runs at an average of 79.07 since World Cup 2015. Joe Root and Rohit Sharma are also not far away to challenge Sachin’s record. Joe Root scored 3498 runs at an average of 58.3 and Rohit Sharma scored 2845 runs at an average of 61.12 during this period. The kind of form Virat is in now, he can also threat Sachin’s record of the highest number of centuries. Sachin scored 6 centuries. Among the current players, Dhawan, Mahmudullah, Amla, Guptil, Kohli and Gayle, all have only 2 centuries each. Though it is a long shot, if India can reach the final, Kohli can definitely threat Sachin’s record as he is scoring almost a century in every 3 matches since World Cup 2015. Another record, on what batsmen can keep an eye is the highest score in a match. In 2015, this record was broken twice. Gary Kirsten’s 19-year-old record of 188 runs was first broken by Chris Gayle, when he scored the first double hundred of the world cup. Gayle scored 215 only to watch his record being broken within a month when Martin Guptil smashed an unbeaten 237. This record is highly unlikely to be broken. Since the change in fielding restriction rules in 2015, ODI has seen only 2 double hundreds comparing to 6 before the changes.

Because of all these records on the card and the trend of high scoring games, the cricket world cup 2019 can really be a Batsman’s world cup. Also, with all the rising of T20 cricket and all new 360-degree batting, batsmen are now not at all concerned about the fielding restrictions. They just target the crowds and sail over the fielders. So, from batsman’s point of view Cricket World Cup, 2019 can be a festival of runs, sixes, centuries and high scoring chases.

What do the bowlers say to the batsmen – ‘Not Today!’

If batsmen can bat 360-degree, bowlers can bowl 6 deliveries of an over in 6 different ways too. With the tradition of high scoring matches, the only way bowlers can survive is their variations. Off-break, leg-break, cutter, knuckle ball, carrom ball, arm ball, the back of the hand delivery, slow bouncers – bowlers have rushed in with so many varieties that batsmen don’t even know all their names. As it is established earlier in this article, teams are going to post high scores. Anything between 325-350 is going to be more common. The chasing teams are going to give a hard time to the defending teams. In this high scoring galore, teams need a good set of bowlers. Like previous occasions, it is not at all feasible to rely on a single bowler’s wicket-taking ability. Batsmen are cleverer now. They save wicket and target the weak link to post a mammoth total or chase it down. Also, teams have to have bowlers for all segments off the game. Opening bowlers cannot give away loose deliveries during the powerplay and offer chances to the batsmen to settle down. In the middle overs like from overs 10-30 bowlers must make sure batsmen do not get easy strike rotation. Middle overs are very important as drying out the runs can put pressure on the batsmen and they can get out trying to play lofted shots. Finally comes the death overs (41-50). In the T20 era death over bowlers are getting more and more valuable. Batting teams even with 5-6 wickets left can score 100-140 runs in these 10 overs. This is one place where overall good bowling teams like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa can suffer. On the other hand, teams like England and India get stronger at this stage. Overall, England and India have bowlers for all phases of the game and in their day, they can steal the show. Teams like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa all have good bowlers and if they can bowl collectively good they can turn any match to their side.

Most competitive World Cup

The cricket analysts are in accord that this world cup could be the most competitive one. Because, teams are focusing equally in bowling and batting, some are thinking this could be the return of the 1999 world cup, ‘The World Cup of the All-Rounders’. 1999 World Cup was starred by all-rounders like Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis, Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmud, Neil Johnson, Chirs Cairns, Chris Harris, Robin Singh, Steve Waugh, Hansie Cronje and many more. This year the platform is for Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Hardik Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Rashid Khan, Andre Russel and our very own Sakib Al Hasan. All of them has the capability to win any match for their team. With so many superstars and so many opportunities, this World Cup is bound to be a blast. So, just wait for a couple of more days and indulge yourself to the best Cricket World Cup ever.