Power Ranking the 2019 World Cup Teams

6. Pakistan

New Zealand v Pakistan: 5th ODI

To be perfectly honest, the spots from 3 to 6 were changed at least ten times while creating these rankings. Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan are so close to each other, that it felt almost impossible to rank them in any order. Yet despite some recent success in bilateral ODI series and their famous Champions Trophy victory, Pakistan are just marginally weaker than all three teams listed above.

It should be noted that Pakistan have one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament especially in English conditions. In Mohammed Amir, Rumman Raees and Hasan Ali, the Men in Green have a fearsome pace attack. This is complemented by the spin wizardry of Shadab Khan who could match the recent success of wrist-spinners on English soil.

Similarly, their batting lineup is much improved. Fakhar Zaman is the ideal modern ODI opener as he proved in the Champions Trophy final and his recent double-century against Zimbabwe. Babar Azam has also evolved into a talented middle-order batsman while Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik complement each other in the lower middle order.

Yet, Pakistan are not higher in these rankings because of a multitude of reasons. Their batting lineup does not seem capable of making the types of scores that are vital in modern ODI cricket. They have not reached 350 against a non-Zimbabwe team since 2014. Moreover, their losses in New Zealand (where they got swept 5-0), Australia (lost 4-1) and England (lost 4-1) over the past two years are discouraging.