ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Squad Rating of the Participating 10 Teams

Apr 26, 2019 at 6:08 AM

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Squad Rating of the Participating 10 Teams

We are just a month away from the start of the most awaited cricketing event in 4 years which is the ICC Cricket World Cup. The mega event will be played in England and Wales from 30th May. All the 10 nations who will be participating in the tournament have already announced their squads and we can expect a thrilling competition. It will be an evenly contested tournament especially due to the fact that all the teams will be able to play against each other at least once in the round robin league. The top two teams will contest in the semifinals.

Now with the tournament scheduled to start in a little more than a month’s time, let us have a look at the squad ratings for the respective 10 nations

England- 8/10

England National Cricket Team, ICC World Cup 2019
England is one of the favourites to lift the World Cup.

The home team has a strong team in the competition and will be one of the title contenders for the tournament. The team will be led by Eoin Morgan who has led his troops quite brilliantly in the recent past. The form of England’s batting line-up has been sensational to say the least. Jonny Bairstow has looked in ominous touch in the IPL and will look to continue his prowess.

The middle order consists of some genuine match winners in the form of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and a few more. Their bowling department is also a balanced unit who has the ability to dismantle any top class batting line-ups in the tournament.

Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Alex Hales, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, David Willey

Australia- 7/10

Australia, World Cup
Australia national cricket team (Image Credit: Google)

The defending champions will be bolstered by the return of David Warner and Steve Smith who will definitely add balance and stability in the batting order. They have a good top order with players like Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh. Skipper Aaron Finch hasn’t been in the best of touches which might be a matter of concern for Australia.

Their bowling line-up is pretty strong with Mitchell Starc being the leader of the pack. After winning their last couple of series against India and Pakistan, they will be a confident unit in a tournament where they are well aware of the art of winning.

Squad: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Pakistan- 6.5/10

Pakistan, Inzaman-ul-Haq, ICC World Cup 2019
Getty Images

The Men in Green will be led by Sarfaraz Ahmed and posses a good team. They were thrashed 0-5 in their last bilateral assignment against Australia but that shouldn’t be a concern for Pakistan as they have a solid and experienced team.

The likes of Fakhar Zam and Imam have provided good starts to Pakistan. The experience of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the middle order will come in handy for Pakistan. The biggest surprise is the exclusion of Mohammad Amir. All in all, Pakistan have a pretty strong team to possess.

Squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed(c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Abid Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Sohail

South Africa- 7/10

South Africa, World Cup
South African national cricket team (Image Credit: Google)

The Proteas will be led by an able skipper in the form of Faf du Plessis. The opening duo of Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla will play a pivotal role in South Africa’s chances. The retirement of AB de Villiers just a year back will definitely put South Africa in a spot of bother. They have some able players in the middle order.

The experience of JP Duminy will also come in handy for South Africa. The bowling department will be led by Kagiso Rabada who has looked lethal in the ongoing IPL. Dale Steyn’s injury might be a concern for South Africa but there is still a month away from the competition which will allow him to recover in time.

Squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Imran Tahir, Dwaine Pretorius, Anrich Nortje, Dale Steyn, Tabraiz Shamsi

New Zealand- 6.5/10

Kane Williamson, New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team won the T20I series by 2-1 (Image Credit: Getty Images)

The Kiwis have a relatively inexperienced tea, in the tournament which will be led by Kane Williamson. The opening duo of Martin Guptill and Colin has a good reputation and will look to provide a great start to the Kiwis.

The middle order will be led by the experienced Kane Williamson who is definitely one of the finest batsmen of the modern generation. The bowling department will be led by Tim Southee and Trent Boult. It will be interesting to see how they square up for the marquee event.

Squad: Kane Williamson(c), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor

Bangladesh- 5/10

Bangladesh will be one of the surprise element in the tournament. They have lacked consistency even in the past but on a specific day, they have players who can turn the match on it’s head with both their batting and bowling skills. The squad will be led by Mashrafe Mortaza who has led Bangladesh quite well in the recent past.

Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das have laid a good foundation for Bangladesh. Meanwhile the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim will look to provide stability to the Bangladesh batting line-up. The bowling department will be led by left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman.

Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Mithun, Abu Jayed, Mosaddek Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan

India- 9/10

India National Cricket Team, ICC World Cup 2019
Indian Team. Credits: Twitter

Without being biased, I certainly feel India are the firm favourites for the World Cup especially due to their performances in the 50 overs format in the recent past. The top 3 of the Indian team is the backbone of the team.

The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli will look to provide stability to the Indian batting order. There is arguably no doubt about the fact that MS Dhoni will be the most important player for India in the tournament.

Chief selector MSK Prasad revealed that Vijay Shankar might start the tournament as the No 4 batsman. The bowling department consists of three exceptional fast bowlers who are in good form.

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah will be a lethal pace bowling bunch for India. The spin bowling duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav might turn out to be the X factor for India in the tournament.

Sri Lanka- 5.5/10

Sri Lanka will be led by a player who last played an ODI in the 2015 World Cup. Strange indeed but the Sri Lankan selectors feel that Dimuth Karunaratne can do the job for them especially after leading the Lankans to a historic Test series victory in South Africa.

Their batting line-up has been pretty indifferent and has failed to provide any consistency. There are several new names in the Sri Lankan squad who will look to make a mark in the showpiece event. The presence of Angelo Mathews will be of great help to Karunaratne.

Squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana

Windies- 6.5/10

Windies
Image Credit: Google

The form of Andre Russell for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL will come in beneficial for Windies in the 2019 World Cup. Along with Russell, Chris Gayle has also looked in superb form. Both these players are match winners and have the ability to change the whole complexion of the game within a blink of an eye.

There are several other impact players in the Windies team who has the ability to surprise the opposition with their all-round skills. The injury of Sunil Narine will be a huge blow for them as Narine could have made the difference for the two-time world champions.

Squad: Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer

Afghanistan- 5/10

Asia Cup 2018, Afghanistan
Afghanistan team celebrates its wicket. (Photo by Julian Herbert-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)

The Asian minnows might well be the party poopers as they some exceptional players in their squad especially in the spin department. The Afghanistan team management took a surprising call by employing Gulbadin Naib as the ODI skipper just ahead of the quadrennial event which was even criticized by players like Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.

Afghanistan has a good batting line-up and can also pose a threat or two with the ball in hand. The spin department will be led by Rashid Khan. He will get support from the likes of Mujeeeb ur Rahman.

Squad: Gulbadin Naib (c), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman

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