Way to World Cup 2019
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Taken from www.icc-cricket.com |
2018-19 is proving to be
a festival season for Cricket lovers. In the history of Asia Cup, this 2018’s
segment was one of the best tournaments. This Asia Cup gave several shocks to
crazy Cricket fans. Early exit of Sri Lanka and the tie between India and Afghanistan
were two major blows. “The best opportunity to analyze which Asian team
can win the World Cup was the Asia Cup 2018.”
Dark Horses
On the international
level, Afghanistan have made a remarkable first impression.
Their young-gun Rashid Khan is indeed a one-man army. On the
other hand, Bangladesh is getting bigger and bigger with each
tournament. Their extraordinary passion to win is always worth watching. They
haven’t won any big unilateral tournament, but now they are capable to shock
the world any day. In this Asia Cup, they defeated Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The
Nidahas tri-series played among Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India in March 2018
has not been forgotten yet. The nail-biting climax of the Final when Dinesh
Karthik hit the stunning six on the final ball was one of the best
matches played between two neighbors. Bangladesh have defeated India in the
past and they can do so in future too. Not only India, but they have also
defeated several big teams like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. They
can’t be taken lightly.
In World Cup 2019, both
Bangladesh and Afghanistan can cause some big changes in analysts’ Semi-finals
and Final picks. It cannot be denied that they might become the reason for
early exit of one or two big names.
The Downfall
While Afghans were trying to establish and prove themselves, Sri Lanka were
struggling to regain their lost glory and, in this tournament, they failed
miserably. Sri Lanka still have time to correct their strategies and
wrongdoings and to present their claim to be the World Champion again. Before
World Cup, they will play several matches against England, New Zealand,
Australia, and South Africa. They performed so badly in Asia Cup that more
worst cannot happen to them, only thing they can do now is to overcome. It has
happened earlier too, “when world thinks Sri Lanka is done with Cricket, they
rise from the ashes and shock their opponents.” Same thing goes for West
Indies who, at the moment, are playing below-average Cricket.
The Mediocrity
The world had seen two
clashes of two Arch Rivals in this Asia Cup; however, both matches were one
sided and Pakistan did nothing impressive throughout the
tournament. Pakistan’s average performance disappointed everyone. For now,
Pakistan have a lot to ponder. Their fielding is one of their weaknesses that
always stick with them; they should overcome from it at first place. Their
agility on field was very ordinary in Asia Cup. A captain motivates his team by
playing good knocks in adverse situations. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed should
concentrate on his batting because other than being a Wicket Keeper and
Decision Maker for the team, Batting is his full-time job and these mediocre
performances will achieve nothing. Both Fakhar Zaman and Asif
Ali are highly skilled players and have potential to win a match
single-handedly, but, at the moment, they seem completely ordinary.
The Number 1 Contender
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Taken from www.icc-cricket.com |
From Asia, “India is
the favorite contender for World Cup 2019.” They have experts in all areas of
Cricket, whether it’s Batting, Bowling or Fielding. India have already won this
Asia Cup and their confidence level is very high at this time. But they are
still struggling with their delicate middle-order and openers’ inconsistent
performances. Shikhar Dhawan's in-and-out from top-11 is an
ongoing process. India have the best batting line-up, but their
inconsistent performance is their weakness. It seems only Virat Kohli is
the consistent performer in Indian team, and he can (had done in past too)
snatch the victory from opponents single-handedly. MS Dhoni is
the backbone of middle order. No doubt he is the best Strategy Maker
and the best Wicket Keeper, but he’s doing nothing impressive with bat and his
out-of-Asia-record is not admirable at all. Except Dhoni there
are no fix Batsman in middle order. Team India is very infamous for bad
performances outside the Indian subcontinent; but yes, when it comes to World
Cups or Champion Trophies, India perform anywhere, in any
condition. Before World Cup, India will play against West Indies in home-ground
and will have tours of Australia and New Zealand. Only few months are left
for the World Cup and even the best-eleven can’t be guessed yet. But we
can predict that players who will be chosen for New Zealand and Australia tours
will be the top 15 for World Cup 2019.
Possible Threats
In my opinion, this
upcoming World Cup will be one of the most memorable and unpredictable Cricket
tournament. Five-time Champion Australia, and England, New
Zealand, and South Africa – who are starving for their
maiden World Cup trophy – are way better than our Asian teams. At this moment,
only India can be compared with these teams (in ODI format). In last two World
Cups, hosts India (in 2011) and Australia (in 2015) got advantage of their home
grounds.
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Taken from www.mykhel.com |
Can this be the England’s best chance to win
their first-ever World Cup? Can New Zealand and South Africa – defamed as Chokers –
be able to shock the world? Can Australia claim their sixth, and second in
a row, World Cup in the absence of Steve Smith and David
Warner? Will India repeat the history at Lord’s? Or Might any other Asian
team shock the world?
Come what may, no team
can escape a match with help of some luck because there are only three stages –
league, Semi-finals and the Final. Each team will play against all nine teams
before Semi-finals. Let’s see what happens; “Cricket is the Game of Glorious Uncertainties.”