CWC 2019: What can be expected from this edition of the tournament

The focus, adulation, and eyeballs of the cricketing world and fans were on the Indian Premier League over the past few months. The biggest T20 league in the world proved its worth with the battle for the throne going right up to the last league game - such was the competitive spirit.

Now, the attention will completely shift to cricket’s showcase event - ICC Cricket World Cup. The mega event will kick-start from May 30, 2019, with the hosts and pre-tournament favorites England taking on South Africa.

The World Cup comes once in four years, and it’s the biggest prize in ODI cricket. Teams will go all out to be prepared and be completely equipped in order to succeed at such an event. Most of the teams playing in this World Cup have put out their strongest fifteen players, including West Indies who were struggling to compete earlier.

With the warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup having started yesterday with all teams looking to get completely accustomed to the English conditions and find the perfect balance. With many teams having players fresh out of a grueling and well fought IPL, player’s fitness, and managing workloads will be a priority.

Looking ahead to the ICC World Cup 2019, here are some things we can expect from this edition:

It’s going to be the tournament of the powerful and hard-hitting batsmen

This edition of the World Cup will clearly belong to the batsmen who bludgeon the ball. Brute power and the ability to clear the boundary at a consistent basis will be crucial to team’s success.

Every team has batsmen who can do just that and at will. Batsmen like Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, David Warner, Andre Russell, and Aaron Finch would be among the many on show in the mega tournament.

It’s the ability of these strikers on batting friendly pitches which will most likely determine the outcome of most of the games. And with pitches expected to slow down as the tournament progresses, it’s how each team handles spin that would separate them from the rest.

The tournament for the X-factors in each team

The ability to single-handedly win matches with the bat or ball has never been felt more. Every team has players who can be the X-factors for their team. It’s not only about scoring some runs but also backing that up with a strong performance with the ball and also holding on to all the catches that will matter the most.

Every team has that one all-rounder who has that potential and one can expect them to dominate and control the fortunes of their teams. Players like Hardik Pandya, Moeen Ali, Russell, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris and Rashid Khan will have a huge impact on their respective team’s surge.

If there is an ICC event that would truly belong to the multi-faceted players or all-rounders, it’s the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019!

Expect the leg-spinners to decimate oppositions and be the match-winners

Another crucial and important aspect of this World Cup is the emergence of the leg-spinners as the match-winners in the ODI format. Leg-spinners are no longer just tough to negotiate, they are winning games for their teams on most occasions.

The rapid rise of India in recent years in ODI’s overseas has their spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal at the forefront. Afghanistan’s growth in the ODI format has one key name featuring, that being Rashid Khan.

South Africa have the immensely talented and fan-favourite Imran Tahir whereas the Kiwis have Ish Sodji and the Aussies have got Adam Zampa. It’s all about how well the respective captains utilize their trump cards which would be really intriguing to see.

Will all the skippers use them as wicket-taking options, which they are or would they use them to control the innings and contain the run flow allowing the seamers to take over? With pitches expected to be on the drier side and with it assisting spinners, this is the tournament where leg spinners can win teams the coveted title.