Can Asian Cricket Giants Bring World Cup 2019 Home

Way to World Cup 2019

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

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.

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.”

Afghanistan: The Next Big Thing

The way Afghanistan have played the Asia Cup 2018 is certainly the outcome of their dedication, extreme hard work, and passion. I mean, just look at the facts, few months, or may be a year, ago they were just infants in One Day International Cricket. Holland, Ireland, Kenya, etc. also had done these types of miracles, but not this way and not with this consistency.

Afghanistan Cricket Team. © www.icc-cricket.com

Afghanistan's journey for Asia Cup is over now, but they have made a mark in the world of International Cricket. Stout-hearted journey of Afghan team isn't just a luck. They have defeated big names, such as West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh in the past; again, in this tournament, they sent Sri Lanka (SL) home from the league stage. Although SL's performance couldn't be poorer, but defeating a big name always boost the confidence, and something like that happened with Afghanistan too. In the super four stage the lost two very close matches and, at the end, tied with mighty India, a big achievement for an International Rookie.Afghanistan is a young team; Aftab Alam, Mujib Ur Rehman, Rashid Khan, etc. all are young talents and they are ready to carry their team for at least 8-10 years. Rashid Khan, a 20 year-old-young-gun, has already become a big name in Cricket. Currently, he's one of the best all-rounders in the world. He has potential to turn the table any time in game. He can't be taken lightly nor the Afghanistan team.

So it can be predicted that Afghanistan is a Rising Star which has started to shine in the Cricket world. Yes, Afghanistan have a bit immaturity, they play irresponsible shots, they miss catches, their captain's decisions questioned sometimes, but, they still have time, they have the ability to be a big name. What they did in past few matches is outstanding. It will be interesting to see how far they will go in ICC World Cup 2019.