ICC World Cup 2019: Two players from each team who could make a big impact

#2 England

Jos Buttler

Buttler - The perfect 360 player

Jos Buttler would be the most destructive middle-order batsman in this World Cup. In 127 ODIs, Buttler averages just over 40 with a strike rate of 118.

Buttler has taken the game away from the opposition many a times in the past. Suddenly an expected score of 275 would become 350 due to Buttler’s massacre at the death. In one of his recent innings against West Indies at St George’s, he made 150 off 77 balls with 13 fours and 12 sixes. The attacking batsman added 204 runs with Eoin Morgan in 20 overs.

In another match against Pakistan at Dubai in 2015, he made 116 off 52 balls. He is a 360 degrees player who can play his shots in every direction of the ground. He is a very difficult player to set a field and to contain once he gets going.

Jos Buttler is England’s X factor in their World Cup campaign at home.

Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes - The much-improved all-rounder

Ben Stokes is England’s flamboyant all-rounder in all formats of the game. Surprisingly, he doesn’t find a place in the top 10 ICC ODI rankings for all-rounders. That is mainly because of the fact that of late he has become more of a batting all-rounder. In the last 3 years, he has scored a total of 1419 runs in ODIs while he has taken only 26 wickets in that period.

However, he is improving as an all-rounder with every match. He is quite capable of giving his best at crunch situations, both with the bat and ball. He would certainly play a crucial role in England’s fortune in the World Cup at home.