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

Bowling Metric (BOI)

Afghanistan leads the Bowling Index with an astounding score of 3453, nearly two thousand smaller than the next best India at 5421. This is why I'd like to call them the dark horse of the World Cup i.e. the Croatia of cricket.

A majority of Afghanistan's bowling success boils down to the ability of their spinners to take wickets. If batsmen continue to fail to pick them, then Afghanistan have a decent chance of making it to the knockout stages.

This might sound a bit over-ambitious, but such feats have been achieved by sides in the past too. For instance, Bangladesh knocked out England in the the 2015 edition of the World Cup.

The next best bowling team behind Afghanistan, is Kohli's India. With two potent wicket-taking and death bowlers in the form of Bhuvneswar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, a smart all-rounder in Hardik Pandya and spin twins Chahal and Kuldeep, India have an extremely balanced bowling line-up that can attack and defend, while chipping in with wickets at any stage of the game.

However, their only problem remains their middle order muddle, which includes their sixth bowling option. Going in without backup in such important games is not an option, and at this stage, India seem to be unsettled regarding who their extra bowling option should be.

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