So now that the big political cup in India, the General Election 2019, is done and dusted, it is now time for millions of Indians to switch their minds over the Cricket World Cup 2019 that starts on May 30th, 2019.
Isn’t that what you all wanted?
Yes. I’m sure you all were waiting for this. Because we want to relax our mind right now after the 2 months of an exhaustive selection process and results that we are waiting to end.
Now, in this World Cup 2019, I feel, there is no absolute favorite as such because any team that plays well on the given day might win the tournament. As they say, ‘Cricket is a funny game’. Nevertheless, the one team that I’m hoping will win the tournament this time at least in England. Because in the last year they have played the white-ball cricket well and have dominated many countries in all conditions.
But hold on folks!
Don’t for one second be under the impression that I’m going to write about the English Cricket Team.
This blog is all about who are the key players to look out for in this tournament. Now, this analysis is based on my observations from what I have seen them so far in the last 12 months.
So who are those 10 players to look out for in the world cup 2019? Let us check on who are those players that will perform well in this world cup. This list is on a random basis.
Top 10 players to expect of World Cup 2019:
1.) Josh Butler – Josh Butler has been in his prime form in the world cup for the past 2 years. He has scored several runs against all countries including in the recently concluded ODI series at home against Pakistan. In this ODI series, he scored runs at a good strike rate of over 100.00. This batsman can also play in a guarded manner in case, his team is in trouble. The other advantage that England has in doing well is that Butler can also keep. So he is one of the key players to watch out for.
2.) David Warner – Warner has been sensational throughout this IPL season. He had won the ‘Orange Cap’ for scoring the most runs. It seemed to me that the one year ban, due to the infamous ball-tampering issue that took place last year, had no impact on his game. Warner is a prolific opener for the Australian team. If he can carry the same form through this world cup, then I wouldn’t be surprised if Australia wins this time as well. As we have all seen before, Australia always plays well during the World Cup. Even if their form has been poor before the tournament begins.
So all the other teams Watch Out! Warner and Australia could prove deadly.
3.) Virat Kohli – Now there, who can ever forget India’s very own great batsmen and the captain of our team, the one and only, Virat Kohli. Right now Kohli is the most dependable batsmen in the team. His ODI average speaks for itself. He averages 59.69. That is due to his ability to bat till the end. There are so many instances where he has played it till the end and won the match for India. So, we should expect him to play well in this tournament and maybe even win the cup for India.
4.) Steve Smith – Smith has been an asset to the Australian team since the time he first played for his country. His ability to score runs of difficult deliveries makes him one of the best players. As he has shown in the past, he can change the course of the game at any time. Most of the bowlers are clueless to know where to ball to him. He also has a good batting average in the ODIs.
5.) Andre Russell – ‘Russell the Muscle’, as he is well known is one of the inform players that can demolish any team on his given day. As we saw in the recently concluded IPL tournament, he was flamboyant scoring lots of sixes and winning the matches almost single-handedly. So, for the West Indies’ sake, let’s hope that Andre Russell carries his IPL form to the World Cup.
6.) Kagiso Rabada – Rabada is the revelation. He is one of the best fast bowlers that are in the form at the moment. We have seen in all the crucial moments when South Africa needed wickets. Rabada has delivered by taking wickets of top batsmen from the opponent team. I cannot forget one of the best delivery ever bowled during the super over in this year’s IPL match between Delhi Capitals versus Kolkata Knight Riders. In the second or the third delivery of the super over, Rabada bowled an excellent yorker to Russell and intern helping Delhi Capitals to win the match.
So he is another key player to look out for in this world cup. South Africa has a chance of winning the World Cup for the first time if Rabada continues to perform well with the ball.
7.) Ben Stokes – Though Ben Stokes has not been performing that well as he should be in recent times, I feel he is still a great asset to England. He is an all-rounder with class. Since this tournament is played on his home condition, he should be familiar with the pitches and should be able to handle both spin and fast bowlers well. And also, he would be able to take wickets.
8.) Mitchell Starc – You cannot write-off Mitchell Starc at any given time till he plays cricket. This tall left-arm quickie from Australia is known for his consistency and his desire to continuously bowl yorkers is going to pay a rich dividend for both him and the team. Who can forget the way he bowled during the 2015 world cup. Before the tournament, most of the cricketing pundits were talking about his inconsistency and doubted if Australia would perform well. But then, Starc had other ideas. He just kept on bowling yorkers and getting a batsman out.
So I feel this time also it would not be any different and we would see Starch performing well, despite being off from the cricketing field due to recurring injuries.
9.) Jasprit Bumrah – In the past two decades, since the first time I started following Indian cricket, I have never come across a fast bowler from India like Jasprit Bumrah. This talented young bowler is the best find in ages for India. Currently, he is the no.1 bowler in both test and one day format. He can not only bowl swinging deliveries but he can also bowl excellent yorkers and he is good at bowling at the death overs. He has consistently performed well for India giving away very few runs and taking crucial wickets. So he can play a vital role in giving India a chance to win this edition of the World Cup.
10.) Jofra Archer – Now, you all might be surprised by my inclusion of this fast bowler from England. I’m going by his great performance for Rajasthan Royals during the recently concluded IPL 2019. He is excellent in bowling slow balls that are difficult for batsmen to read. He will play a vital role in bowling the middle overs well. So he should be included in the playing eleven for England team for the entire tournament.
So, as I said at the beginning of my blog post, these lists of players are based on their recent forms during the IPL and in the bilateral series that they have played. There may be other players that are not included in this list that may perform well during the World Cup 2019.
I wish all of the participants, all the very best. It is going to be an ‘Unpredictably Exciting’ World Cup tournament. I can’t wait for the first ball to be bowled.