ICC World Cup 2019: Predicting the position of all 10 teams at the end of league stage

The ICC Cricket World Cup is one of the most prestigious events for any major cricketing nation. The tournament, which comes once every four years, is a dream of every cricketer – every country. Teams usually start their preparations at least a year prior to the competition and look to put in their best efforts to get their hands on the glorious trophy.

The 2019 edition of the World Cup will take place in England and Wales. 10 teams will battle it out in a round-robin format that’ll be followed by the knockouts. Even though every team would want to finish in the top four, it is surely not possible. On that note, here is where each of the ten teams might end up at the close of the league stage.

Predicted position of the teams at the end of league stage:

Sri Lanka – 10th Position

Call it poor team selection, call it inexperience or call it lack of confidence. Sri Lanka is possibly playing its worst cricket ever at the moment. Their batsmen have failed to live up to the reputation. Both the experienced and the rookies are hardly scoring any runs. They are struggling to build up good partnerships in the matches and nothing seems to be going right from them.

The bowling as well has been highly disappointing. Lasith Malinga, the skipper of the team, who also happens to be the leader of the bowling attack has been leaking a lot of runs. He hasn’t been able to inspire his troops and in the matter of the last four years, everything seems to have changed for the Lankans. They are expected to finish last at the end of the league stage.

Bangladesh – 9th Position

Bangladesh’s preparations heading into the World Cup aren’t great either. Last year, they lost a game against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup and nearly lost the second one as well. Since then, they played Zimbabwe and Windies against whom they won the ODIs. Then, the players got busy with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The team then toured New Zealand where the conditions are quite close to what they could experience in England. Bangladesh lost the practice match as well as the 3 ODI games that they played. Most of the players aren’t in the best of forms and have struggled to counter swing. Thus, they might end up having a dismal performance in the upcoming tournament.

Afghanistan – 8th Position

Actually, there isn’t much to choose between Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Afghans try to give their one hundred per cent on the field and always strive hard for wins. However, the England conditions could turn out to be too good for the team.

They rely a lot on their spinners and there isn’t a great deal of assistance for them in the United Kingdom. Even though they might stun a few big teams, it will be quite tough for the team to maintain the consistency and go the distance. Hence, they could finish at the 8th spot at the end of the league stages.

Windies – 7th Position

The Windies might have won the Test series against England but are over-reliant on a few players in the 50-over format. The side has got a lot of expectations on someone like Chris Gayle. It remains uncertain if the Windies Cricket Board would pick Andre Russell who has made himself available for the quadrennial tournament. Even if he is picked, there will be several questions over his fitness levels.

The team has got some good bowlers who bowl quick and can hurry the batsmen. However, their pacers have highly inconsistent. Moreover, they are struggling to find a reliable spinner at the moment with both Devendra Bishoo and Roston Chase not delivering to their potential. With so many issues, the Caribbean team might find it tough to maintain consistency.

Pakistan – 6th Position

Even though it might surprise a few of you, the Champions Trophy 2017 winners might struggle in England later this year. The openers, Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman haven’t been as consistent as they’d like. They have got talented players but they have failed to click together as a unit in recent times. The batting can be managed with the likes of Babar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Haris Sohail available in their ranks.

But they currently do not have a great finisher whom they can rely upon every time. Pakistan’s biggest concern is the bowling. The pacers, who have always been the strength of the team, have not been as successful in the last few months. The team has shuffled around with the players a lot in the last month to finalise the best combinations. While they are expected to finish sixth, Pakistan team is unpredictable and could spring up with a big surprise.

South Africa – 5th Position

South Africa looks to be a strong team but they’ll definitely miss the services of someone like AB de Villiers in the tournament. By the looks of it, the team still seems to be uncertain about the second opener other than Quinton de Kock. The middle-order seems to be fine with Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and JP Duminy holding it tight.

It seems Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius are the two all-rounders shortlisted for the World Cup. However, the duo is not always constant with their performances. The bowling looks decent enough with some quality pacers in their set-up. South Africa is expected to compete hard to get into the top four and might even enter into the knockouts if they have fortunes on their side.

New Zealand – 4th Position

New Zealand has got one of the most balanced teams for the World Cup 2019. Thus, they did not have many big decisions to make and the Blackcaps announced their World Cup squad before anyone else. The New Zealand squad is well rounded with two quality openers in the form of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro/Henry Nicholls.

Then, they have got the ever-reliable Kane Williamson at three followed by Ross Taylor. Tom Latham is expected to play a big role in the middle order while Jimmy Neesham will take up the role of a finisher. They have also got Colin de Grandhomme in the squad who is handy both with the bat as well as the ball. The bowling unit also looks extremely good and New Zealand should make it into the knockouts.

India – 3rd Position

India is one of the favourites for the World Cup 2019. Over the last two years, the team has been a dominative force in one-day international cricket. Even though they have got their own set of problems to deal with, Team India always finds a way out. There are a few concerns with the form of a few players at the moment.

But the moment they don the Blue jersey, there are completely different cricketers. The side is a good mixture of youth and experience. Most of these players have played in England recently and know the conditions very well. With the right set of bowlers available in the ranks, India might finish third on the points table.

Australia – 2nd Position

If it was a few weeks ago, Australia would definitely not have been in the top four. But just within a matter of a few days, they completely changed things around. After they lost the first two ODIs against India in March, many wrote them off. But they came back strong and defeated the hosts 3-2. Furthermore, they also clean swept Pakistan recently.

Most of their players seem to be in great form. This team is expected to play highly competitive cricket even in the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith. When this duo joins in, Australia will look fierce. Both Warner and Smith have been in good form and Australia has all of a sudden become one of the favourites to go the distance and defend the title.

England – 1st Position

The hosts, England, is one of the strongest teams in the tournament. This is their best chance to lift the World Cup for the first time. Playing at home will be a massive advantage for the team as they will know how to play in different conditions. Most of the English players are in good form. The home team has got a destructive opening pair in the form of Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy who are unstoppable at home.

Then, there is Joe Root to hold the batting together followed by a few other quality players. The bowling is strong and also the team bats very deep. Even the number 8 or number 9 batsman can score big and that has been one of their biggest strengths post World Cup 2015. The Brits will aim at nothing less than the top spot on the points table.

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