It doesn’t get any bigger than this for cricket. A month-long carnival that has the best teams fighting out for the biggest prize in world cricket and the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is expected to be no different.
Defending champions Australia will be eager to add another trophy to their ever-glowing cabinet, India will be keen to start the next edition in 2023 as the defending champions when the tournament returns their land post-2011. Hosts England see this as the best opportunity to break their duck in the competition, while the likes of South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and others will be hoping for a determined show from their sides too. But how will be this year’s competition be played out?
The World Cup format has been always a subject to changes over the years. While the initial years of the competition saw the teams being divided into two groups for a round-robin run, with the top two making it to the semifinals and the ensuing final, the late 90s saw three teams for the two groups making it to a ‘Super 6’, with the top four from the ‘Super 6’ going ahead to fight it out for the title.
This year though, things look to be a little straight forward. The 10 participating sides will compete in a round-robin group stage comprising 45 fixtures. The top four will then advance to semifinals at Old Trafford and Edgbaston before the Lord's final on July 14.
This change has also resulted in pundits being a little cautious about their predictions for the World Cup. Former South African great Jonty Rhodes even refrained for tagging a team as favourites for the title. “India might have the fab 15 but there are probably six other teams that might call themselves the same. There are some very strong teams in the World Cup and it will depend on the balanced 11 that they chose on the day, depending on the conditions,” Rhodes was quoted as saying.
“India have got a lot of experience too. Even young players like (Jasprit) Bumrah, is one of the more experienced death bowlers, so from that point of view India will be fancying their chances but there are six other sides, top six.
“And I am not even talking about West Indies, who are ranked seventh. They have started to play decent 50-over cricket again and there is no team that can go into any match of the tournament as favourites. So, every game is important, you need those points. The change in format has made it really wide open.”
