Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
England must win the final match of the WorldCup2019. This year, England is the most favorite to millions of cricket fans around the world, because, this is possibly the strongest team amongst all other teams.
Twenty years back, when England hosted the World Cup, they suffered the embarrassment of being knocked out before the official tournament song had been released. But their record has scarcely improved since then. As Eoin Morgan’s team opens the WorldCup2019 through the match with South Africa, they are considered as top favorite.
England’s captain also has his eyes on another prize: a once-in-a-generation chance to revive interests in cricket, which has slipped since it went behind Sky’s paywall after England’s Ashes victory in 2005.
Commenting on the England team, George Dobell, Senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo said, Of course, it rained. Of course, after weeks of dry weather, it started to rain the moment the World Cup launch party in the Mall was due to start. It didn’t feel like the perfect omen.
There is an ingrained pessimism among regular supporters of England at World Cups. They have seen their side beaten like a snare drum around the world. Even now, with England rated as favorites for the tournament, there seems to be a reluctance to believe in case it makes the inevitable crash all the more painful.
But this is a different England team. They bat beyond the horizon, they have options with the ball and the emergence of Jofra Archer has given them the bite they were previously missing. They are settled, united and confident. It says much for their progress over the last four years that nobody would be surprised if they won. In 2015, it would have been a miracle of biblical proportions.
He said such concerns can wait. For the next few weeks, at least, we have the prospect of some top-class cricket to watch. This is, already, an England side in which its supporters can identify and take pride. It is impossible to predict who will win but England really are good enough to be involved in the latter stages: from there, anything can happen. And if more people can see them on the journey, they really could inspire another generation of players and supporters.
BBC said, if you go purely off the ICC’s one-day rankings, England are a shoo-in. They’re top of the class, just above India but far ahead of the rest.
In fact, they’ve won more than two-thirds of the completed games they have played since the last World Cup.
It added England were eliminated from the 2015 World Cup in the group stages, playing a brand of cricket that was deemed old-fashioned and one-dimensional.
Since then, they have packed their batting with aggressive strokemakers and their bowling with skill and variety.
The turnaround has been dramatic and thrilling – no team has scored more runs per over in ODI cricket than England in the past four years.
No luck for India
India will be hoping that they can win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales, but according to one of their own astrologers, that won’t happen this time around. Renowned Indian astrologer Greenstone Lobo has picked who will win the World Cup this time and has rather picked who won’t win, and that’s India.
He said, “Team India won’t win the World Cup this year,” Lobo said.
“Virat Kohli’s time of birth ought to have been 1986 or 1987 and not 1988 to include in the top rundown,” Lobo explained.
“I called Virat’s youth coach, Rajkumar Sharma, and clarified my stress that India probably won’t win the World Cup in 2019 if Virat was in reality conceived in 1988. I trusted frantically that I would get 1986 or 1987 as the genuine year of the Indian skipper’s introduction to the world. He (Virat’s coach) stayed quiet for a minute prior to murmuring a yes,” he went on.
“In this way, are you saying that we should change the skipper to win the World Cup?” the coach asked.
“Indeed, we could have won the World Cup if the group had no Dhoni,” Lobo continued.
Still, fans of the Indian cricket team are hoping for the cup, although in my own assessment, the Indian team may not be successful in proving their brilliance much before the semi-final. Meaning, India may not even reach the semis.
ESPN said, India has best bowling and England have the best batting, but Australia might sneak it again. They are peaking at the right time, and at the World Cup, they will pick their best bowling unit, which has decent spin options. I’m tipping Glenn Maxwell to fire in the slog overs.
George Dobell, senior correspondent of ESPN said, I have this recurring fear that in this much-hyped “summer of cricket”, Australia could spoil England’s party by going home with the Ashes and the World Cup. But England really does look strong, and if they are ever going to do it, it is going to have to be now. India is also dangerous.
In international sports, these days, there are some sponsored commentaries, published with the goal of demoralizing the opponents. In my opinion, India is no dangerous at all. Indian team may not even exhibit their best. Yes, the Australian team is strong. Again, the Ashes will stay in England this time. All the very best wishes for the team England. God bless!
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is the editor of Blitz. Follow him on Twitter Salah_Shoaib