The World Cup
The jewel in the crown of the ODI game hits England’s shores in 2019, with the hosts going into the tournament as favourites. So, who can spoil their party? On paper, it only looks as though India have the firepower to compete. They have a solid and varied bowling unit and any batting unit that possesses Virat Kohli, the greatest ODI batsman of all time, has a chance. But – there’s always a but – Kohli is hiding a multitude of sins in India’s batting and they have a long tail which, if it can be exposed, is a thorn in India’s side.
Australia, the defending champions, have had a torrid time of late (see above) and don’t appear in any sort of shape to defend their crown. 2015’s beaten finalists, New Zealand, cannot be ruled out. This quietly efficient unit has explosive batting and a varied bowling attack. They never get much attention, but the Kiwis are in a good spot right now. South Africa have the bowling talent, but the batting looks a little light. How they must wish AB de Villiers had stayed on for one more year.
Then it’s over to the wildcards, Pakistan and West Indies. The Windies exist in a perpetual state of crisis these days but as they showed during the 2016 World T20, they can harness that and turn it into something positive. Pakistan, too, can never be written off. Look no further than the 2017 Champions Trophy for evidence of that, where they comprehensively out bowled England in the semi-final then did the same to India in the final.
But England are the team to beat. They have the best batting unit by a distance, with the bowlers well capable of clubbing lower order runs to boot. The bowling isn’t quite as good as India’s or South Africa’s, but this is more than compensated for in the batting department.
Our prediction: Eoin Morgan to lift the trophy at Lord’s. One thing is for certain, though – England will not be boring to watch!
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