[NPV]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

I am surprised that many of you think WI will make it to semis. Are they that good a team now?

And England also seems to be quite a bit of a favourite. Interesting.

West Indies have been playing well recently and have some young, exciting players as well and with the likes of Gayle and Andre Russell they also have the ammunition to blow away teams. I think they have great amount of X-factor in their squad this time and are also reigning T20 world champs.

England on the other hand, have been pretty formidable in ODI cricket the last couple of years or more.

This edition of the world cup should be a good one

[Baddychat]

It is always difficult to predict a winner especially in this edition because each team will play all the other teams like the 1992 edition. The team which gets used to the conditions upfront has an advantage.

In my opinion, the 4 semifinalists would be:

1. England
2. India
3. Pakistan/New Zealand
4. Australia/South Africa

England are one of the favorites as they have been playing excellent ODI cricket over the last 3 years.
So my pick is England though heart always says India India !

[adi.mariner]

Voted what the Heart says - India. I had planned to go for India - Australia, India - Pakistan and India - NZ matches with my extended family and booked the tickets as well. But the addition of a new member means that have to cancel the plans. The rest are still going.

[Utsav3010]

As mentioned by mod Eddy above, the wickets are going to be F-L-A-T! I too have been keeping a close track of domestic competition that’s underway in England.

Playing at home, England have a slight advantage over other teams. They’re playing a series with Pakistan just prior to the World Cup, and the winner of the series will have a psychological advantage. I am, however, extremely sceptical of the wickets that are going to be used for this particular series.

As far as other teams are concerned, almost all of them have peaked at the right time. Australia defeated India in India, went on to beat Pakistan 5-0 in UAE, and with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner, they’ll get a big boost. Even Windies defeated the mighty English team, and announced that they’re no minnows.

South Africa, without the services of ABD look a bit weak on paper, but have the best bowling attack (no two ways about it; the likes of Rabada, Steyn, Ngidi and Tahir can rip apart any batting unit). New Zealand is led by a brilliant tactician, and I would be surprised if they don’t qualify for the knockouts. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, well, no offence to them, but I guess they’re not favourites. But, they can surely spoil the party, and stop other teams from qualifying from knockouts if NRR comes into play.

Being a true Indian at heart, I voted for India. We have a very balanced team, the bowling and top-order is sorted, it’s just the middle order that needs to click.

My semi-finalists:

India
England
Australia
New Zealand

Dark Horse of the Tournament: Windies

[RSM_TorqueZoner]

I'm in all likelihood getting smashed for this, but India is far down in the pecking order for me. To me, Virat Kohli is by no means a great captain though his records say a different story. India has the weakest middle order among the top 5 or 6 countries, you cannot win a world championship with that line-up, it will get exposed at some point or the other. They have to play KL at no:3 and Virat needs to step down to 4, that might click. But chances of them implementing this is remote. Obviously weakening a strength ain't always the way to go, but I feel otherwise for India right now. I'm also concerned about the form and consistency of the top 3 immediately after the IPL. Glad India has a strong bowling line up though, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if India wins the tournament with such a middling middle order. England is the best team in the tournament. Four among England, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Australia are my semi-finalists,

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by RSM_TorqueZoner

.... India has the weakest middle order among the top 5 or 6 countries.....

also 1 of top 3 is bound to fail every now and then.
And top it, I'm not very confident of Dhawan's form in a big series like this, especially in an away series.

[RSM_TorqueZoner]

Originally Posted by redCherry

also 1 of top 3 is bound to fail every now and then.
And top it, I'm not very confident of Dhawan's form in a big series like this, especially in an away series.

Interestingly, Dhawan has always performed well in ICC tournaments! But I hear what you're saying. Dhawan and Rohit will play some gusty knocks, but I have major concerns on their consistency during the world cup.

[turbowhistle]

England, India start as favourites but to be frank I don’t see India winning this time with current middle order. We experimented a lot with number 4 and so much importance has been given to that spot needlessly. A lot rides on Virat, Bumrah and our wrist spinners. Let’s just hope we don’t get flatter wickets.

My prediction for semis:
1.England
2.India
3.Pakistan
4.Austrlia/West Indies

Coming back to Indian Team, we need to keep Kohli, Bumrah and Pandya in good shape (especially Pandya with his back niggle) if we need to keep our hopes alive.

Rest teams,
Pakistan: Very unpredictable team in ICC events, but can be lethal against India or on their day!
England: Having a purple patch in limited overs cricket for last few years and high time for them to win a worldcup!
Australia: Back in form and with Warner coming back as opener, a very strong competitor!
West Indies: Boy, what form the Windies guys are having in current IPL. Good team selection with Dre and Gayle back in team, they have some much needed experience and stability.
New Zealand: They have Kane Williamson. That’s it about them!
South Africa: The best bowling unit currently but they are permanent chokers and no one is putting them on their fav list.
Bangladesh/Srilanka/Afgan: Not writing those off but don’t think they will reach the semis. But I feel they can play spoilsport for others and definitely hurt someone’s spot in semis.

All in all, Exciting times ahead for a cricket fan!!!

[SRM]

India and England on paper. But the game is not played on paper, its played on the field! So yeah difficult to predict. And Australia has always been a big event team, steps up even when no one expects to. And with Pakistan, even their team can't predict which way they'll go

But what excites me the most about this WC is the format, where each team plays against each other and have always hoped for that. That's how you should be called a world champion when you've been consistently been good against all top teams! So yeah really looking forward to this WC, should be an interesting one!

[coolmind]

My list for semis will be England, India, New Zealand & Australia.
The tracks are going to be flat with an average scores of 350-380. The tournament will be night mare for bowlers.
I voted for England as winner because of their home advantage and their squad.

[hemanth.anand]

It's one thing to root for your national team and it's another thing to predict. Looks like many here are just doing the former. Patriotism and support in the heart has taken over the mind IMO. If we ignore that, looks like England are the clear favorites. Let's see if the originators of the game can lift their maiden ODI world title of their national sport.
As far as India is concerned, I'll not be surprised too much even if India doesn't qualify to the Semis. I've predicted them to come into the semis only because the cricket quality has come down globally IMO. But if NZ or Pak or SA spring a surprise, India may well come back home before the last 3 games of the tournament!

[Swap_Abarth]

England for me.

Though my heart will always say India. England have explosive one day unit. Conditions will suit them also along with crowd support. Jason Roy, Bairstow, Stokes, Morgan, Buttler, Root & Moin Ali will form formidable batting line up.

[skishorenaik]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

I was surprised that no thread exists for the Cricket World Cup! So, though I am not a big fan, thought I'd start off this thread. Has a poll too. Someone tells me that India will win the WC based on the poll results LOL.

EDIT - Poll closes in 40 days, vote fast.

It is really difficult to predict the winner of 2019 world cup. Below are my favourites and this is based on the recent performance of the teams.

1. England
2. Australia
3. India
4. South Africa

[harry10]

I feel this is an open world cup with no favorites. Teams like England, India, Australia, SA are evenly matched. West Indies, Pakistan, NZ are the dark horses. Whoever holds their nerve and performs on the given day will take the Cup. Obviously we want it to be India. Exciting times ahead.

[satishv1987]

Most of us ( including myself) have taken it for granted that India will reach the semis. The batting looked a little iffy a couple of months ago- too reliant on the top 3. The good thing is that MSD seems to have worked himself into form. Physically, he is looking a lot stronger than what he was a few months ago. However his fitness is a big question mark. Quite uncharacteristic I would say. He has missed a few games in the IPL . If he is not fit during the WC, we will end up with a very top heavy line up. Jadhav is in poor form, DK is inconsistent and Pandya is a rookie. There is a possibility of crashing out during the group stages itself.