Top 5 batsmen who could be the leading run-scorer in the World Cup 2019

The ICC World Cup 2019 is almost here and the Team-sheets just need a bit of finalising. This World Cup promises to be the best ever owing to the dominance of fresh faces over the experienced ones and that’s something we haven’t witnessed in a very long time.

Let’s take the Proteas for instance. The team does have a few experienced players but it’s the new entrants that make up the majority by far. India too has its own share of fresh faces.

Also, the very fact that the World Cup begins right after the IPL makes it even more watch-worthy. Performing in crunch situations is tough for any player and when we add fatigue to the mix, life just becomes tougher for the ones who are new to this.

While bowlers are sure to be rested before the tournament, it’s the batsmen that will most likely make the headlines in this edition of the IPL. The longer that a batsman spends out there, the better he gets and even though that’s the case with the bowlers as well, they are injury-prone.

Having established this, let’s have a look at the top 5 contenders for the leading run-scorer of the ICC WC 2019.

Babar Azam

Babar Azam is by far one of the best batsmen that Pakistan has produced in recent times. The right-handed number three had a pretty decent tour of South Africa as he ended the ODI series with 195 runs from 5 innings at an average of 48.75.

Azam resembles Kohli in the way he paces his innings and the technique that he employs on the surfaces where there isn’t much for the batsmen. Babar averages 51.29 in the 57 innings that he has featured in and has a tally of 2462 runs.

With 8 centuries and 10 50s, Babar is by far the most settled Pakistani batsman along with Imam-ul-Haq and Pakistan’s success will more or less, revolve around Babar’s form and performance.

Shikhar Dhawan

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’, this phrase holds true for India’s Shikhar Dhawan. The left-hander has got a special liking for ICC events and it’s almost as if he likes batting in the major events. Dhawan is India’s best opener after Rohit Sharma and his aggressive approach more often than not, allows Rohit to play his natural game which involves a slow start followed by a late flourish towards the end of the innings.

In 122 innings, Dhawan has 5539 runs to his name at an average and strike rate of 45.03 and 93.44 respectively. In the past year or so, Dhawan has lifted his white-ball game to a different level and he is a threat to any opposition and on any surface.

Dhawan is a complete opening batsman and is an asset for India. This year’s ICC mega-event should be no different for Dhawan as he looks fairly confident with his white-ball game at the moment.

Joe Root

The English middle-order is compact and that’s largely because of the presence of Joe Root. The elegant right-handed batsman has over 5700 runs in 114 innings at an impressive average of 51.52 and a decent strike rate of 86.44. Root resembles Kohli in many aspects but his compact technique against the moving ball is what separates the two players.

Kohli is a bit wobbly early on in his innings and that’s more often than not, not the case with Root. The 28-year-old can build his innings at a decent rate and is a safe player to count on, in case of a top-order collapse.

Joe Root has already got 29 50’s and 13 100’s to his credit and he is expected to give a tough fight to Kohli and one should expect to see Root among the top 5 run-getters of the mega-event.

Ross Taylor

Ever since New Zealand suffered a heartbreaking thrashing in the CWC 15 finals, Ross Taylor has taken the matter into his own hands and he has been simply unstoppable in ODI’s. Post the ’15 ICC WC, the 34-year-old veteran has managed to amass 2757 runs from 56 innings at an impressive average of 49.23.

Ross Taylor is the only one who is close to Kohli on the list of the leading run-scorer post the previous edition of the marquee event. In England, the conditions will be similar to that of New Zealand and that should make Ross as well as the Kiwis happy.

Ross Taylor is currently enjoying a rich vein of form and in what could be the last ICC World Cup for the Kiwi stalwart, he will look to make his late career flourish count. Ross Taylor holds the key to New Zealand’s chances of lifting their maiden World Cup title. Expect him to score big this tournament.

Virat Kohli

One cannot simply count this man out when it comes to batting charts. Virat Kohli is India’s leading batsman at home and away from it as well, and needless to say, it has been that way for the past 2-3 years. He can bat anywhere and what makes Virat the absolute best in the world is his ability to shift gears as and when the situation demands him to. Kohli has proved that he can succeed on tough tracks consistently and that too, at a healthy strike rate.

In 214 innings, the Indian stalwart has a colossal 10533 runs to his credit at an outstanding average of 59.51 and a strike rate of 92.59. To get close to those numbers is a task, let alone delivering on a consistent basis. England was one such place before the start of 2018 where Virat couldn’t find much success in his earlier tours and he turned the tables right around.

With the form the Indian skipper is in at the moment, stopping him is a herculean task even for an in-form Trent Boult. Don’t be surprised if the 30-year-old ends the ICC World Cup 2019 as the leading run-scorer.

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