Who will win the cricket world cup?

In less than 6 months, 10 of the best cricket teams in the world will battle it out for the sport’s biggest prize: the World Cup. The event will take place for 1 month, from 5 October- 19 November on the spitting subcontinental tracks of India. The participants? India, New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, and 3 other qualifiers. They’ll play each other in the classic round- robin format (every team plays every team), before the semis and finals determine the winner. But can India repeat the miracle of 2011 and win on home soil? Or will it be perhaps the year of the underdogs, with Pakistan or Bangladesh for the win? Read on to the factors that may influence matches, and who I think will win.

The Conditions

We cannot mention this World Cup without mentioning the conditions.

India’s pitches are notorious for being spinning and spitting and this sometimes makes subcontinental teams unplayable against other teams. This season, India have whitewashed Sri Lanka and last World Cup’s finalists New Zealand, in 3 match series, while losing 2-1 to Australia in their most recent home series. Even so, in the final match of the series, the Aussies were bowled out for just 188, showing how destructive India can be when they want to be.

However, I hear you ask, surely the domination of the IPL (Indian Premier League) will mean that many are familiar with Indian pitches, and so will be able to counter the Indian bowling? That’s correct, but the IPL is 20 overs, and this World Cup is 50 overs. Therefore, the home team will have some sort of an advantage coming into the matches, as franchise cricket and tours will give people some, but not a lot of knowledge about the conditions. This is compared to the home team, many of whom feature IPL players, and who have the conditions arguably at their fingertips.

Conclusion

Of course, I think India, with the conditions and crowd in their favour, are without doubt the favourites. However, this won’t be an  easy path for them: they will have to work all their players to the limit, to overcome masters of this climate and the best players in the world. England and Australia will certainly make it to the semis and might even make it to the final. This is because of the players they have and their adaptability to conditions.

By Nickhil Francine