1) Sarfaraz leads Pakistan to a second World Cup win, with Amir and Babar the best players.
He will surpass Imran as Pakistan's greatest captain, and Amir and Babar will become national greats as well. Pakistan is going through one of its worst periods in history, and a captain winning two world events in the space of two years will elevate him to a status that no former captain has reached.
It will also show that this generation of players have the ability to raise their game under pressure, and that the Champions Trophy was not a fluke but a sign of things to come.
Chances of it happening 0.5/10
2) Kohli bombs during the tournament, capping it off with a choke in a must-win game for India. Dhoni goes through a similarly awful run of form with bat and gloves.
Kohli will dent his legacy as an ODI player, and he will have to make amends in the 2023 World Cup. Not much would happen to Dhoni's legacy though - he is on his last legs, and no one expects him to make an impact in the World Cup. He will retire after the tournament and people will remember him for the great things that he achieved for India, and not what he did in his declining years.
The chances of Kohli flopping in the next World Cup 3/10
The chances of Dhoni having a poor tournament before retiring 7/10
3) Amla and de Villiers lead South Africa to their first ever WC win, each scoring a century in the final match against arch-rivals, Australia.
Amla will redeem himself. He will no longer be considered as the greatest ODI choker in history. On the other hand, de Villiers will surpass Ponting, Bevan, Dhoni, Kohli and Viv to become the greatest ODI batsman in history. Moreover, it will be the proudest day in history of South African cricket and a dream send-off for players like de Villiers, Amla, du Plessis, Morkel etc.
Chances of it happening are 0/10 though.
4) Kohli scores a match-winning ton in the WC final and wins India the trophy.
He will cement his legacy as the greatest ODI batsman to ever live. At this point, he is one iconic World Cup innings away - a career-defining innings.
India along with England are favorites for the World Cup in my view, and Kohli is by far the best ODI batsman in the world today who is at the peak of his powers.
The chances of this happening are quite high. I would say 7.5/10
5) Afghanistan or Zimbabwe win the WC, with Bangladesh making the finals. This leads to the latter half of the tournament becoming a ratings disaster.
Afghanistan/Zimbabwe winning the World Cup would be the greatest fluke in ODI history, and incomparable to the three other major flukes - 1983 World Cup, 2004 Champions Trophy and 2017 Champions Trophy.
However, it will be massive for the two nations and would give the game a huge boost in those countries.
Bangladesh though have the potential to make the finals, provided that they can find a couple of quality bowlers. Their batting is already very good and well above teams like Sri Lanka and Pakistan. If they can improve their bowling, they can solidify themselves as the #2 Asian team in the future.
6) Pakistan loses every single one of their matches but Babar Azam scores four tons in the process.
Sarfraz will be stripped of captaincy and will probably lose his slot in the ODI team as well. Babar will become the captain. People will sympathize with him and he will be considered as the lone warrior of Pakistan.
The 2019 World Cup will have a 1992 World Cup-like format. All 10 teams will play each other, and considered Pakistan is inferior to England, India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, it can easily lose 5 games. The likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can also beat Pakistan on a good day, and we have been upset by minnows before.
However, losing 9 games in a row is pretty much impossible. The chances are 0.1/10.
Babar might score a ton or two, but four hundreds are beyond his capabilities. 1/10
7) Australia wins another WC by steamrolling the competition, with Steve Smith averaging over a 100 with the bat.
Not much would have happen to Australia's ODI legacy. They are already the greatest ODI team historically and the kings of World Cups. However, Smith will solidify himself as an ODI legend and will probably surpass Ponting. Moreover, he could even surpass Kohli and de Villiers as the best ODI batsman of this generation, provided that the former two flop.
Australia are third favorites after England and India, so I would give them a 7/10 chance. If Australia wins, Smith will obviously end up playing a big role, so he gets a 7/10 as well.
8) England score 400+ in every single match, including the first ever 500+ ODI score, by playing this lineup: (Bairstow, Roy, Hales, Root, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Willey, Rashid and Curran).
England are the most powerful batting side at the moment, and they will probably have the highest average score in the World Cup. In addition, they have the capability to breach the 500 mark. However, scoring 400+ in every single game is impossible.
0/10.
9) West Indies or New Zealand win the tournament.
It could revive Caribbean cricket and Holder will become a legend. A World Cup win could motivate WICB to get their act right and the people will probably end up in love with the game again.
New Zealand would finally join the "Big Boys Club" after being in the shadow of the other top teams throughout their history. Williamson will become their greatest ever player surpassing Hadlee and Crowe. Quite a few of their current top players apart from Williamson, i.e. Taylor, Guptill, Boult etc. will cement their legacies as legends of the game.
However, West Indies have no chance of winning the World Cup. 0/10.
New Zealand are my fourth favorites after England, India and Australia, so I would give them a 4/10 chance.
10) Ben Stokes gets into a brawl two days before the start of the tournament.
His England career will end and he will become a journeyman T20 cricketer. He has anger management issues so he will continue to fight himself in hot water every now and then, but I do not think he is stupid enough to cross the line again in the future.
2/10.
A very good, creative effort [MENTION=129948]Bilal7[/MENTION]. Hopefully you will not forget to bump it during the World Cup. This thread has immense bump potential.
