ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: A statistical search for the probable winner

Batting Index (BAI)

The product of the batting average and batting strike rate gives us the BAI (Batting Index), which ranks teams on their batting in the last 2 years. India is a clear winner in this metric, significantly better than what now seems like an overrated English side.

It is true that English cricket has changed over the last two years. However, their carefree approach to batting has caused their batting averages to come down, as they are losing too many wickets in the process.

While it can be argued that the method seems to be working remarkably for English cricket, it is essential to remember that they only seem to be winning against sides of lower quality. This includes the recent 6-0 drubbing again Australia.

If you were to cast your mind back in time to England's last series against India in India, their 'see-ball-hit-ball' approach did manage to produce scores of 350 and 366. However, despite India being 63-4 at one stage, they still managed to chase the former total!

England's scorching run over the last 2 years may only be a partially tested affair. The current series against India is likely to clear any doubts.

India have the the best batting team in the last two years