Weekend

This weekend, I am back with sports. Cricket World Cup 2019 is about to start in few days and there is nothing bigger than this event in the cricketing world.. This tournament was started in 1975, and every 4 years this event is being held after that, let us the results of  Word Cup tournament played till now

Let us see the results of World Cup tournament played till now

1 1975 : West Indies (W) & Australia (RU)-  held in England

2 1979 : West Indies (W) & England (RU)- held in England

3 1983 : India (W) & West Indies (RU)- held in England

4 1987 : Australia (W) & England (RU)- held in India & Pakistan

5 1992 : Pakistan (W) & England (RU)- held in Australia & New Zealand

6 1996 : Sri Lanka (W) & Australia- held in India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

7 1999 : Australia (W) & Pakistan (RU)- held in England

8 2003 : Australia (W) & India (RU)- held in South Africa

9 2007 : Australia (W) & Sri Lanka (RU)- held in West Indies

10 2011 : India (W) & Sri Lanka (RU)- held in India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh

11 2015 : Australia (W)& New Zealand (RU) held in Australia & New Zealand

This time is being held in England & Wales. Now let us the odds offered by International bookies to  the participating teams

1 Afghanistan– they have odds of 100/1 ( this type of odds means that if you place a bet of Rs 1 on that Afghanistan will win the Worls Cup, then you get the return of Rs 100)

2 Bangladesh– they have odds of 80/1

3 Sri Lanka- they have odds of 50/1

4 West Indies- they have odds of 14/1

5 Pakistan- they also have odds of 14/1

6 New Zealand- they have odds of 10/1

7 South Africa-they have odds of 8/1

8 Australia- they have odds of 4/1

9 India- they have odds of 2.75/1

10 England- they have odds of 2.25/1

 

So as per the odds top 4 teams are South Africa, Australia, India & England, they are expected to top the round robin league and qualify for the finals. Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies on the present form can be considered as dark horse, as  these teams are capable of beating any team in the world on a given day,

As per ICC ranking England is no.1 ODI team and India is 2^nd rank. Every one in the cricketing world is expecting that these 2 top teams of the world will clash in the final.

In team India, they have world class batsmen in Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul and finisher like MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and  Hardik Pandya. In pace bowling they have bowlers Mohd Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah. They also have spinners like  Yujvendra Chahal & Kuldeep Yadav, even Kedar  Jadhav can also bowl spin. It looks like  a balanced team, and on a given date thry can be unbeatable.

In team England you have world class batsmen like Jason Roy, Johny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Joes Butler, Eoin Morgon. Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali can also contribute with bat. In pace bowling their attack consists of Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, David Willey and Tom Curran. For spinning options they have Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid & Joey Denly.

Both England & India have a complete  and well balanced team. We all will come to know the initial team composition/performance of players when they clash  in the round robin league.

There is one thing more which might affect team India’s position in round robin league table and ie their match against Pakistan in the league. Till now Indian govt policy is not to have any sporting ties with Pakistan. Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has clearly said they will abide by govt’s guideline. In the case India is asked not to play Pakistan, then in that case Pakistan will get walk over and India will lose crucial 2 points. In fact India has never lost a match to Pakistan in the world Cup.

As per predictions by various cricket expert and betting odds, India and England are favourite to clash in the final and on that day whichever teams performs better, will win the prestigious World Cup.

But don’t be surprised, if any other two teams clash in the finals, as cricket is game of uncertainties.

 

Awaiting your views/comments/feed backs.

 

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

24^th May, 2019