In my previous post, i provided an overview of the key qualified teams of the upcoming Cricket World Cup 2019. It was a long and informative discussion with various members of the platform, and i am grateful to all those who contributed to the analysis. There are 5 more great teams that qualified for the international event and i shall try to deliver a brief overview of them with another chance of sharing our perspectives.
Fixtures:
We know that the pools and fixtures have been playing an important part in the outcome of the tournaments. But, ICC has eliminated this pool-based system so, in WC 2019, each time would face every other team in order to accumulate enough points to place themselves in the top 4 and qualify for the semi-finals.
In my opinion, this system has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it would take-away a little bit of excitement, when before coming out of the pool was at least one sigh of relief and a boost-up for the team's/fan's motivation. It was relatively easier to do team-win calculations as we had to consider only a limited number of match-ups and points for a certain time. Now, the pool is bigger and situation would take some time to clear up, one cannot say something until a large number of matches have been played.
On the other hand, each team would get equal and uniform chances to appear in the finals, and we can really say that the cream would float on the top of the milk. Attached below, is the complete world cup matches schedule.
Other Qualifying Teams:
With 12 full member and 93 associate member countries of the International cricket council (ICC), only 10 qualify for the marvelous championship. For the upcoming ICC world cup 2019, i presented 5 teams previously and we have 5 more great participant teams with brief stats as follows:
6. New Zealand (The Black Caps)
Black caps drew their black magic at least in the last ICC world cup 2015, when they surprisingly arrived the WC final against Australia. It was sure by then that at least the cup was travelling towards the far South East end of the world map. This was the first appearance of the NZ team in the finals of the ICC WC, where they unfortunately stood runner-up due to a heavily prepared and merciless neighbor.
Strengths: They have got Gary Stead as their recently appointed coach, who was also been a steady top-order batsman for New Zealand before, and the team captain also their legendary batsman (Kane) is hopeful that Gary's temperament would add a lot to the team. Their fast bowling is something to look up to with pacers like Southee and Boult, they have less to worry about this section of the game.
Weaknesses: Their middle-order batting and the second opener Guptil mostly does not stand the powerful attack. But, i hope the new coach already noticed it and would be working to make the line-up stronger.
7. Sri Lanka (The Lions)
They really are. One could hardly imagine that this small land would generate such a huge amount of potential for the cricket world, with 1 time world champions and twice the runner-ups. If i start talking about the cricket legends from this nation, you would surely be scrolling down this post for the rest of the day or two. For a quick flashback, starting from the almighty hammers of Sanath Jayasuriya, K. Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, A. de Silva to the startling pitching of Muralitharan, C. Vaas and Lasith Malinga can't ever be said less than the front row of the world class.
Strengths: Lasith Malinga is the first in the list, bringing his experience in bowling, understanding of game and deadly action could surely be a big turn of events. Rumors are that it would be his last world cup so he would throw his best. They have got a couple of new batsmen who are performing well but, they would need a strong support from Perera as an all-rounder to put-up on both ends.
Weaknesses: Have not performed well on English grounds with their batting being a little inconsistent outside Asia. The team's main focus has been their senior batsmen like Mathew and sometimes Chandimal but, they seem to be a little out of form.
8. West Indies (Windies)
They are more of Windy, because one would hardly say something about their direction and magnitude. Either, they will pull the opponent out right from their roots, without any assurances that strong ones may survive or would simply pass by causing minimum damage. If they click, they click else they themselves fall off like dry leaves in the autumn. Therefore, this team has faced many ups and downs, with greatest ups very early on in 1975 and 1979 with 2 consecutive world cups. But, despite of having great players like "Brain Lara" and currently "Chris Gayle", the team failed to make another appearance in the finals since then but, surely have pulled-in some other trophies.
Strengths: Chris Gayle is the first name that pops-up with this team tag, with a roof-top playing calm attitude this player can really throw the bowlers pride out of the ground. Rumors are that this would probably the last world cup appearance for the star and hope he would deliver more than expected. With Samuels and all-rounder Holder on this side, this team is hard enough to defeat.
Weaknesses: They are currently suffering with political and corruption issues with their cricket board and the graph of performance is falling with pace. They would need to resolve this and refocus on the game ASAP to get their motivation back on-line.
9. Bangladesh (The Tigers)
The are actually a huge pile of emotions with probably a full demonstration of their love for the game. From snake dance to flood of tears, they can bring a 'what' to the ground. Despite that they appeared in the cricket world just a couple of decades ago, they have demonstrated some remarkable improvements. They are a competitive struggling side, which is determined to give a good fight for the runs.
Strengths: Shakib-ul-hassan is a huge name as an all-rounder, which is hard to overlook. With Iqbal on their batting side, their top-order looks really solid. Ahmed and Rahman are good death bowlers with high frequency of accurate yorkers.
Weaknesses: Ability to withstand pressure. As mentioned before they are a bit on the emotional side and such team leaves an open corner for penetration of psychological disturbance.
10. Afghanistan (Deadly)
Actually, deadly isn't their alternative name but, it is because of their fans. They can actually start air firing in Kabul after their win or loss. Well, that is probably the only aspect of the team that's scary. Is it? Make no mistake fellas, despite being a recent entry (a couple of decades as well) to the international cricket, this team has proven something by qualifying for the ICC world cups since 2015 and hopeful to provide their audience with a great show this time as well.
Strengths: Rashid khan and Mujeeb are two very young superstars of the team, which are one of the best emerging spinners. Shahzad and Asghar can take on the batting side very deep so a good balanced team is in action moving from strength to strength.
Weaknesses: A little lack of international level competition exposure, and they may struggle a bit on the English grounds.
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I would admit that it was a challenge for me to compile the overview and expectations for these teams in comparison to the ones before, because of their fluctuating stats and hard to predict nature. However, that is the where the main excitement of the tournament would be witnessed.
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