ICC World Cup 2019: AB de Villiers names the favourites of the tournament

The 2019 edition of the World Cup in England and Wales is approximately three months away and teams are giving their finishing touches to their preparation. Most of the ten participants are already done with their international 50-overs matches and are expected to announce their final squad sooner than later. The tournament is scheduled to start on Thursday, May 30.

The extravaganza will take place for around one and a half months and it’s speculated to be a thriller. In the meantime, pundits are trying their hearts out in analyzing who are going to be the top performers in the mega event. Recently, AB de Villiers, the former South African cricketer, who retired from the highest level last year, named the four favourites of the tournament.

Those four teams are probably the favourites

“I do believe South Africa have a chance, like we did at any other World Cup, because we are a world-class team with plenty of match-winners. The Proteas are certainly in the running, but I won’t say they are the favourites to be honest with you.

“India and England are looking strong, Australia have won five World Cups in the past and Pakistan claimed the Champions Trophy in the UK two years ago. Those four teams are probably the favourites,” De Villiers was quoted as saying in Sport24.

The 35-year-old Pretoria-born played in three World Cups- 2007, 2011 and 2015 respectively, and he understands that the mega event poses a lot of challenges. “The World Cup is a tough tournament. I have played in three of them and it’s never easy.

You always feel like you’ve got a good squad, but once the tournament starts you very quickly understand that there are a lot of teams that are there to win it and have the ability to do so,” he added.

In the list of leading run-scorers in the World Cup, De Villiers is at the fifth position. The right-handed batsman notched 1207 runs in 23 matches at an incredible average of 63.52. He also boasts of four tons and six half-centuries. His top score of 162 not out came against the Windies in the last edition.

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