WORLD CUP 2019: It's showtime
The 12th edition of ICC World Cup starts from May 30, in England and Wales. This is the fifth time that the tournament is taking place in the United Kingdom. After the first three editions in 1975, 1979 and 1983, England hosted the World Cup once more in 1999. 20 years later, England will again host the mega event, where they are the overwhelming favorites.
The round-robin format was first introduced in the year 1992. At that time, a single group was formed featuring all the participating teams in the tournament. It replaced the former system where two different groups were first made. The format for the tournament will witness a single group comprising 10 teams, with each team playing the other nine once, and the top four at the end of the group phase progressing to the semi-finals. With the admission of Ireland and Afghanistan as Test-playing nations in June 2017, it will be the first World Cup to be contested without all Test playing nations being present. And, after the elimination of all Associate teams at the qualifying tournament, this will also be the first World Cup without Associate members.
What to expect: For four years now, England has had the flattest pitches in ODI cricket, which, combined with their tiny boundaries, has created a heaven for batsmen and hell for bowlers. Despite not having a dominant batting line-up, Pakistan piling up scores of 361, 358 and 341 in their just-concluded series against England stands a testimony to that. But, in case of overcast conditions, the ball does a lot of talking in English conditions.
Youngest squad
The youngest squad at this summer's Cricket World Cup is that of Pakistan, where the average age is 27.3, followed closely by Afghanistan (27.4). Afghanistan will look to exploit their youthful options with the two-pronged spin attack of 20-year-old Rashid Khan, the No 3-ranked bowler on the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings, and fellow tweaker Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who at 18, is the youngest player at the tournament.
Most capped
Although age might signal ample cricketing experience, it needn't necessarily have come at the international level. India have the fourth youngest side in the tournament, but also the most capped squad, with a combined total of 1,573 appearances, eclipsing the second-most capped team, Bangladesh, by a margin of 274.
Most hundreds
India have little to no competition here. With a team tally of 90, and a whopping 41 of those belonging to Kohli, India's capacity for mammoth innings will certainly be of concern to their opposition. Rohit (22), Dhawan (16), and Dhoni (10), all have multiple tons to their name, but over-reliance on them could be a pitfall. Although New Zealand, South Africa and India top England in their tally of centuries, the hosts boasts having most centurions. Seven England players have reached three figures in ODIs, compared to five each for India, South Africa and New Zealand – indicating their powerful batting depth.
