The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is just around the corner! 10 teams will fight it out for the honour of being called the champions of the world beginning on the 30th of May! The tournament format will be different to years past in 2019, as the ICC have scrapped the standard two pool format and opted for a round robin system instead!
What that means for the viewer, however, it many more games! Each of the 10 teams will play against all nine opponents before the top four teams after the round robin will move into the semi-finals.
We begin our team previews today by taking a look at the first five teams alphabetically and breaking down their chances in the upcoming World Cup!
2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Squads
Afghanistan
Squad: Gulbadin Naib (c), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan and Mujeeb ur Rahman
Odds: $201 at Sportsbet
Led by the all-star spinning trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan will be looking to make some serious waves at the 2019 World Cup and announce themselves as one of the premier cricket nations in the world. The Afghanis possess real match winning ability with the ball but their batting can look a little thin at times.
It will be tough for Afghanistan to force their way into the top four but we definitely think they will be one of the surprise packets of the 2019 World Cup. Hard to believe they sit at the very bottom of the betting markets behind the likes of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the West Indies. Rashid Khan will certainly get his full complement of overs in every match and looks almost certain to lead his team in wickets.
Rashid Khan most team wickets
$2.00
Australia
Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (vc & wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Odds: $4.75 at Sportsbet
If you had have said at this time last year that Australia would be one of the hot favourties to win the 2019 World Cup then many would have laughed. However, the Aussies have won their last eight ODI’s in a row including a monumental comeback in their series against India followed by a 5-0 whitewash of Pakistan.
The big talking point for the Aussies will be the inclusion of Steve Smith and David Warner in the squad. The two players have served their suspensions after the ball tampering incident and will need to force their way into a batting line-up that has dominated over the last few months. Pat Cummins was Australia’s best bowler by the length of the straight over the Summer of cricket and will look to put his stamp on the cricketing world in this tournament.
Pat Cummins most team wickets
$2.80
Bangladesh
Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Shakib Al Hasan (vc), Mohammad Mithun (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed
Odds: $101 at Sportsbet
Over the past few years, Bangladesh have slowly climbed up the World ODI rankings and sit in No.7 leading into the World Cup. So much relies on a few key players for Bangladesh. There is of course Shakib Al Hasan, the No.2 rated ODI all-rounder in the world and someone who is capable of winning a game of his own bat.
Other key players for the Afghans are Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal, who have both proved capable of matching it against the best bowling attacks in the world recently. At $3.25, Iqbal is fantastic value to lead the team in tournament runs.
Tamim Iqbal most team runs
$3.25
England
Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (vc & wk), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Odds: $2.88 at Sportsbet
England are the No.1 ranked ODI nation leading into the tournament but have become famous for choking on the big stage in previous World Cups. They failed to make it past the group stage in 2015, were bounced out in the quarter finals in 2011 and have astonishingly never hoisted the trophy.
They boast arguably the strongest batting line-up in the competition led by Joe Root, Johnny Bairstow and limited overs specialists in the likes of skipper Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler. Their bowling unit leaves a little to be desired in the form of an out and out strike bowler but as a group, they will back themselves to chase down any total. A lot relies on all-rounders Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.
Jason Roy most team runs
$4.33
India
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik (wk), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja
Odds: $3.50 at Sportsbet
Will this be the tournament where Virat Kohli marks himself as arguably the greatest one day batsman of all time and leads India to their third World Cup trophy? Kohli is currently rated the No.1 ODI batsman in the world after a dominant two year stretch and leads one of the strongest Indian teams in this World Cup campaign.
To go with Kohli, the Indians also boast the No.1 ODI bowler in the world in Jasprit Bumrah. The paceman has burst onto the international scene over the last few years and is inarguably the best death bowler in cricket currently. There’s no doubt that Bumrah will have a great tournament, can the rest of the Indian team stand up?
Jasprit Bumrah most team wickets
$2.88
