ICC World Cup 2019: 5 Openers who are key to their team's success

Openers have always played a massive role in white ball cricket. A quality opening batsman helps his team seize the initial momentum and jeopardize the oppositions' bowling plans. It all started during the 1992 World Cup, when Mark Greatbatch, the hard hitting Kiwi opener rewrote the openers manual by taking advantage of the field restrictions with some breathtaking shots.

This approach was revolutionized further by Sanath Jayasuriya who gave blistering starts in the 1996 World Cup and helped Sri Lanka to win the title. Matthew Hayden and Sachin Tendulkar were instrumental in Australia and India having successful World Cup Campaigns in 2007 and 2011 respectively.

If we look at the last two ICC tournaments that were played in England, Shikhar Dhawan was the outstanding batsman, who top scored in both the Champions Trophy in 2013 and 2017. His association with Rohit Sharma became one of the major factors for India to go all the way in 2013. Every other team has taken cue from history and try to beef up their top order with explosive batsmen to ensure they get a rollicking start.

Lets look into 5 such openers who can set the 2019 World Cup on fire.

Imam-Ul-Haq (Pakistan)

This might baffle a few! Imam-Ul-Haq has been a sensation for Pakistan along with Babar Azam and the duo have rejuvenated Pakistani batting fortunes in white ball cricket. Imam, who also happens to be Inzamam's nephew, has an organized technique and a range of shots which makes his batting look attractive. He even scored a century on debut albeit against a lowly Zimbabwe but it showed glimpses of his potential.

Imam has been in good form in recent times. He scored three half centuries in the 2018 Asia Cup and was one of the positives for Pakistan. Imam came of age in the recently concluded South African tour, where he showed his class in the ODI series. If he has to succeed in the upcoming World Cup, he should learn to rotate the strike better during the middle overs and hold one end up. If he is successful in doing that, he might end up as an MVP (Most Valuable Player) for Pakistan in the batting department.

Martin Guptill (New Zealand)

Guptill has been one of the mainstays of the Kiwi batting for a while now. He is adept in handling swing and bounce and very skillful in hitting through the line. The explosive opener also has the ability to handle the short ball well and can hit some towering sixes over mid-wicket and in the 'V'.

Guptill's penchant for big scores is well known as he holds the record for the highest ever score in World Cup cricket, where he dominated the West Indies bowlers and ended up scoring 237 in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final.

Guptill has been in good form of late, having scored centuries against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He might have failed against the quality of Indian steamers in New Zealand, but we cannot discount the fact that Guptill has the game which is tailor made for English conditions. If Guptill is successful in giving flying starts to the Kiwis and ends up scoring big centuries, New Zealand will certainly become one of the favorites.

Jonny Bairstow (England)

Bairstow has been a phenomenal opener for England in the last couple of years. He takes the attack to the opposition from ball one and can really keep the scorers busy with his scintillating stroke play. Bairstow has been one of the main reasons why England keeps mounting towering totals on the board. He scores runs at a strike rate of over a 100 and his form will be essential for England in the World Cup.

However, one of the challenges for him would be to negate the wrist spin threat. Bairstow has time and again failed to pick the variations of wrist spinners. If he can sort this out and keep the wrist spinners at bay, he'll end up scoring a lot of runs in the World Cup. One of the advantages that he has compared to his contemporaries is that the World Cup is being played in his own backyard. Naturally, Bairstow will be able to sum up the conditions well, understand the angles better and assess the pace of the wicket.

David Warner (Australia)

David Warner has endured a torrid time since the Sandpaper gate saga rocked International cricket in 2018. However, one cannot count him out when a major tournament like the World Cup is on the horizon. With his aggressive batting histrionics, Warner can be one of the X-factor's who has the ability to single-handedly turn the tide in Australia's favor.

Warner has been sensational for Australia in white ball cricket in the last couple of years. Besides giving the Aussies some flying starts, Warner has the knack of constructing an innings keeping the seamers and spinners at bay. Warner can be devastating during the death overs due to the power game he possesses at the back end of an innings. If Warner is able to find his mojo early on in the tournament, he could be the match winner Australia can bank on.

Rohit Sharma (India)

Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly the best opening batsmen in white ball cricket today and he has the statistics to back it up. He is easily the most attractive batsmen who is adept against pace and spin alike. When he gets going, he goes ballistic and rakes up those big centuries with consummate ease. Rohit has seven 150+ scores which includes three double hundreds which is a testimony to his ability to bat deep into an innings.

Sharma has been in outstanding form in the last couple of years scoring hundreds in every ODI series both home and away, a sequence which started at the Champions Trophy in 2017 and ended against the Kiwis in 2019 where he scored a couple of attractive fifties.

Sharma has forged a strong partnership with Shikhar Dhawan and the duo have dominated all bowling attacks and feature fourth in the list of all-time opening partnerships in the history of ODIs. If the Mumbai Indians captain gets on a roll in the World Cup, he will annihilate many teams on his own. If India has to go all the way in England, the onus will be on Sharma to provide flying starts.