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Who will be the four semi-finalists at the 2019 World Cup?

Chose 4 semi finalists

  • Pakistan

    Votes: 32 53.3%

  • India

    Votes: 52 86.7%

  • South Africa

    Votes: 5 8.3%

  • Australia

    Votes: 50 83.3%

  • New Zealand

    Votes: 35 58.3%

  • England

    Votes: 48 80.0%

  • Sri Lanka

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • West Indies

    Votes: 7 11.7%

  • Bangladesh

    Votes: 4 6.7%

  • Afghanistan

    Votes: 2 3.3%
  • Total voters
    60
  • Poll closed .
Could this be an all Asian World Cup

A lot of talks about how the World Cup is going to be on flat English wickets . Is this the first time Asian teams could be the 4 semi finalists.

I expect india and Pakistan to make the semis but the way SL took care of SA and with no AB this is a really poor SA team . BG has a decent batting line up. If not 4 , I’m atleast expecting 3 out of 4 Asian teams to make the semis . These non Asian teams are pathetic at spin
 
Hang on, i can understand India, Pak & SL in the mix, who is your 4th team again?
 
Warner looking completely out of touch and, Head and Stoinis nothing special. If anything, their bowling have to lead the Aussies this time.

India, New Zealand and Eng are the 3 spots fixed with, Pak, Aus and Sa fighting for the 4th spot.
 
Pak's biggest challenge is their weak chase batting. If wkts remain pancake flat, best case scenario for any bowling side against another top team will be to restrict to 270-280

Teams like Eng, India, NZ will chase down 275-280 scores eight out of ten times. Pak can do it at best three/four out of ten.

To get to semis, Pak needs to have good luck with toss, spectacular bowler performance and fakhar+Babar+Malik firing in atleast 2 matches against bigger teams. Best chance is against India and Aus who are relatively top heavy sides and can be blown away in one big spell with new ball.

SA, NZ and Eng have their good experienced players coming in at 4,5,6. They can ride out a new ball burst better
 
Kohli said:
Warner looking completely out of touch and, Head and Stoinis nothing special. If anything, their bowling have to lead the Aussies this time.

India, New Zealand and Eng are the 3 spots fixed with, Pak, Aus and Sa fighting for the 4th spot.
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Don't get over-confident. There's no such thing as a fixed spot in the semi-finals.
 
Will be surprised if we don't make it to the semis in the upcoming wc.
 
The 2019 WC format will theoretically hurt Pakistan the most.

Pakistan has enough talent to lift the trophy. But their biggest challenge has always been consistency.

The 2019WC format is such that only the 4 most consistent teams will make it into the semis.

If Pakistan can overcome that hurdle and reach the semis, then they stand as much chance as anybody to lift the trophy.
 
At this moment I feel
1)Pakistan
2)England
3)India
4)New Zealand

all 10 teams will be good to watch going to be competitive World Cup after a long gap
 
the_outsider said:
The 2019 WC format will theoretically hurt Pakistan the most.

Pakistan has enough talent to lift the trophy. But their biggest challenge has always been consistency.

The 2019WC format is such that only the 4 most consistent teams will make it into the semis.

If Pakistan can overcome that hurdle and reach the semis, then they stand as much chance as anybody to lift the trophy.
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I think exactly opposite - 2019 format is best suited for teams like PAK. If you explain the bold line why, I'll definitely tell you why not. :)

Rest part of your post is more or less agreed.
 
gazza619 said:
India says what the...
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I suspect the IPL which will be played just before World Cup will injure/ tire many players..not to mention the difficulty in adjusting to English conditions immediately after spending 40 odd days with the Indian pitches.

Only Pakistani players might be fresh.

That's why I feel India might underperfrom.
 
MMHS said:
I think exactly opposite - 2019 format is best suited for teams like PAK. If you explain the bold line why, I'll definitely tell you why not. :)

Rest part of your post is more or less agreed.
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I mentioned the reason in my post. Pakistan's biggest hurdle has been consistency.

For the 2019WC, if a team has to qualify for the SF, it has to win 6 out of 9 matches. Pakistan are usually slow starters in WCs. And they struggle with consistency so I don't know if they can win 6 or 7 matches out of 9.

But like I said, if Pakistan get on a roll and win 6+ matches in the round robin, then I'm giving them as much chance as any team to lift the trophy.

This team has enough talent. But it needs to play consistent cricket.
 
the_outsider said:
I mentioned the reason in my post. Pakistan's biggest hurdle has been consistency.

For the 2019WC, if a team has to qualify for the SF, it has to win 6 out of 9 matches. Pakistan are usually slow starters in WCs. And they struggle with consistency so I don't know if they can win 6 or 7 matches out of 9.

But like I said, if Pakistan get on a roll and win 6+ matches in the round robin, then I'm giving them as much chance as any team to lift the trophy.

This team has enough talent. But it needs to play consistent cricket.
Click to expand...



Your own comment is self contradictory bro - read it again. One point you are saying, slow starter, on other point you are saying inconsistency. Interestingly, your both issues are correct, but they are linked complimentary, not adversely. For slow starters, inconsistency can only reduce with time - unless there is off the game issues (injuries, corruption, ban ...)

More or less, once any team is in SF, it's basically matter of 2 great days - therefore, key is to reach the SF when you are in upward curve, not in down slope. PAK's current position is hanging in between 5 to 7 (AUS are behind in ranking, but they are better team). So, on papers, it's actually a matter of W/L in 1, may be 2 games. We can safely say that PAK won't finish as top from preliminary rounds (after 9 games), neither it'll finish as 10th.

Why this format (& fixture) is suitable for PAK, let me explain -

If you do a SWOT of PAK team, for English condition, there are one major strength - seem & swing bowling, backed by decent spin. And, that bowling is not restrictive, like the SAF attack of 90s, which was brilliant in choking teams, but this PAK attack is penetrative - if you are not careful, from 91/1, it can easily become 128/4, or you can go to 1st drinks 65/4 against new ball.

Weakness is fragile top order batting, lack of a batting leader, and inexperience in English condition. Almost every World Champ had one master batsmen at prime form to lead the batting - even in 1983, Amartnah was in between his unreal purple patch, from early 1982 to late 1983, he was probably the best or among top 2/3 batsmen in world.

Opportunity is late order batting & hitting ability - since Wasim, A Razzak & Moeen, this batting line-up has the best depth and quite decent hitting power - if top order can carry the batting till 40th over, that lower order will make a difference. Sarfraz's captaincy I put as opportunity, rather than strength.

Threat is inconsistency - the day team plays poor, it doesn't drizzle, it pours. And, that day can be against AFGs - opposition hardly matters. It has a positive as well - can smash like top seeded ENG, even at their best. I take corruption out of context.

Business rule is, if you are to better your position, you have to maintain your strength if not gain on it, must improve on weakness, take advantage of opportunities and must be prepared with a plan B for the threats.

Now, obviously bowlers have to keep their level, keep fitness and must be supported by fielders - no compromise on that. In early English condition, at least acclimatization won't be an issue, rather fitness can be one, which is a function of selection, conditioning and rotation; not format or fixture as every team will suffer the same work load (IND even more as they are starting their 1st game late).

For batting, there are few factors that can't be solved over night or within 3/4 weeks preparation - top order won't fire like IND or ENG; Babar can't become Javed and that mental toughness won't come from practice only. May be, an early preparation will help, but won't eradicate the weaknesses. The only way is to get into upward curve along with the tournament. Normally, PAK team starts poor on away tours - main reason is PAK batsmen don't get the opportunity to prepare on diversified wickets. It takes lot more for batsmen to adjust out of comfort zone than bowlers, and ENG actually is a zone of strength for bowling, opposite for batting - so, it's a double impact.

So, how PAK can miss the SF cut?

By losing 5 out of 9 games (winning even 3 might be sufficient mathematically, but effectively 5 wins will be required, 6 can guarantee it). Being a slow starter, that long tournament gives batsmen to acclimatize more in match condition - that'll be the determining factor No. 1, batting success. Batsmen coming from PAK/UAE wickets will need lots of game time to acclimatize on English wickets. One interesting question that no one could answer properly here is why there is a massive difference in PAK's result in UK & in AUS - and it's not because of bowling. Batting, being a side-on game, built on body balance, it's extremely difficult to adjust on different level of bounce - most of current PAK batsmen are groomed on UAE/QeA wicket at ankle or knee height; it'll take lot more time for batsmen to adjust to thigh & waist height, because that needs a major adjustment, from front-foot to back-foot game.

2nd factor is, short tournament doesn't allow inconsistent teams to make a come back - couple of unexpected loss, you are out (even 1 was sufficient in 2007); longer tournament allows, inconsistent but capable teams to regroup and make a strong come back. The longer the tournament (or game) is, better teams can dictate terms more for their superior skills, squad depth & tactical nuances - this is universal truth for any sports. That's why T20s are so unpredictable while PAK's Test loss to Mughabe's ZIM is the biggest upset in cricket - they beat PAK after 4 innings, where the better team had 4 bites to fix the damage. If you make Grand Slam's 3 seter, or soccer game 45 minutes - lots of GS champs would surprise us and France would have been out of WC'18 at round of 16. There is a reason why only 8 teams have won FIFA WC almost in a century though it's the main game for over 170 countries in world - make WC an event of 3 games, we could have twice the number of champions.

Apart from that, if you look at the schedule, PAK's last 2 games are against BD & AFG - 2 teams might be out of WC by then and PAK should be better prepared, acclimatized. Now matter how much prepared, put AFG, BD, WIN, SRL in 1st 4 games - PAK might end-up losing 3 of the 4!!!


Historically, you'll notice that the longer the tournament, normally PAK team does better - this time, there is absolutely no excuse from the format or schedule.
 
MMHS said:
Your own comment is self contradictory bro - read it again. One point you are saying, slow starter, on other point you are saying inconsistency. Interestingly, your both issues are correct, but they are linked complimentary, not adversely. For slow starters, inconsistency can only reduce with time - unless there is off the game issues (injuries, corruption, ban ...)

More or less, once any team is in SF, it's basically matter of 2 great days - therefore, key is to reach the SF when you are in upward curve, not in down slope. PAK's current position is hanging in between 5 to 7 (AUS are behind in ranking, but they are better team). So, on papers, it's actually a matter of W/L in 1, may be 2 games. We can safely say that PAK won't finish as top from preliminary rounds (after 9 games), neither it'll finish as 10th.

Why this format (& fixture) is suitable for PAK, let me explain -

If you do a SWOT of PAK team, for English condition, there are one major strength - seem & swing bowling, backed by decent spin. And, that bowling is not restrictive, like the SAF attack of 90s, which was brilliant in choking teams, but this PAK attack is penetrative - if you are not careful, from 91/1, it can easily become 128/4, or you can go to 1st drinks 65/4 against new ball.

Weakness is fragile top order batting, lack of a batting leader, and inexperience in English condition. Almost every World Champ had one master batsmen at prime form to lead the batting - even in 1983, Amartnah was in between his unreal purple patch, from early 1982 to late 1983, he was probably the best or among top 2/3 batsmen in world.

Opportunity is late order batting & hitting ability - since Wasim, A Razzak & Moeen, this batting line-up has the best depth and quite decent hitting power - if top order can carry the batting till 40th over, that lower order will make a difference. Sarfraz's captaincy I put as opportunity, rather than strength.

Threat is inconsistency - the day team plays poor, it doesn't drizzle, it pours. And, that day can be against AFGs - opposition hardly matters. It has a positive as well - can smash like top seeded ENG, even at their best. I take corruption out of context.

Business rule is, if you are to better your position, you have to maintain your strength if not gain on it, must improve on weakness, take advantage of opportunities and must be prepared with a plan B for the threats.

Now, obviously bowlers have to keep their level, keep fitness and must be supported by fielders - no compromise on that. In early English condition, at least acclimatization won't be an issue, rather fitness can be one, which is a function of selection, conditioning and rotation; not format or fixture as every team will suffer the same work load (IND even more as they are starting their 1st game late).

For batting, there are few factors that can't be solved over night or within 3/4 weeks preparation - top order won't fire like IND or ENG; Babar can't become Javed and that mental toughness won't come from practice only. May be, an early preparation will help, but won't eradicate the weaknesses. The only way is to get into upward curve along with the tournament. Normally, PAK team starts poor on away tours - main reason is PAK batsmen don't get the opportunity to prepare on diversified wickets. It takes lot more for batsmen to adjust out of comfort zone than bowlers, and ENG actually is a zone of strength for bowling, opposite for batting - so, it's a double impact.

So, how PAK can miss the SF cut?

By losing 5 out of 9 games (winning even 3 might be sufficient mathematically, but effectively 5 wins will be required, 6 can guarantee it). Being a slow starter, that long tournament gives batsmen to acclimatize more in match condition - that'll be the determining factor No. 1, batting success. Batsmen coming from PAK/UAE wickets will need lots of game time to acclimatize on English wickets. One interesting question that no one could answer properly here is why there is a massive difference in PAK's result in UK & in AUS - and it's not because of bowling. Batting, being a side-on game, built on body balance, it's extremely difficult to adjust on different level of bounce - most of current PAK batsmen are groomed on UAE/QeA wicket at ankle or knee height; it'll take lot more time for batsmen to adjust to thigh & waist height, because that needs a major adjustment, from front-foot to back-foot game.

2nd factor is, short tournament doesn't allow inconsistent teams to make a come back - couple of unexpected loss, you are out (even 1 was sufficient in 2007); longer tournament allows, inconsistent but capable teams to regroup and make a strong come back. The longer the tournament (or game) is, better teams can dictate terms more for their superior skills, squad depth & tactical nuances - this is universal truth for any sports. That's why T20s are so unpredictable while PAK's Test loss to Mughabe's ZIM is the biggest upset in cricket - they beat PAK after 4 innings, where the better team had 4 bites to fix the damage. If you make Grand Slam's 3 seter, or soccer game 45 minutes - lots of GS champs would surprise us and France would have been out of WC'18 at round of 16. There is a reason why only 8 teams have won FIFA WC almost in a century though it's the main game for over 170 countries in world - make WC an event of 3 games, we could have twice the number of champions.

Apart from that, if you look at the schedule, PAK's last 2 games are against BD & AFG - 2 teams might be out of WC by then and PAK should be better prepared, acclimatized. Now matter how much prepared, put AFG, BD, WIN, SRL in 1st 4 games - PAK might end-up losing 3 of the 4!!!


Historically, you'll notice that the longer the tournament, normally PAK team does better - this time, there is absolutely no excuse from the format or schedule.
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You made some very good points.

But I have to disagree with you on one thing. Having seen the LOI pitches in England in the last 2-3 years, I don't think fast bowlers will get much help at all. Spin will play a bigger role than pace, in my opinion.

This WC will be about spin bowling & big scores. Pakistan has Fakhar which is great news for them. If they can find a good, aggressive opener to partner Fakhar they will greatly improve their chances.

Pakistan's shortcoming will actually be not having 2 very good spinners. If they sort out their 2nd opener and the spinners improve by June 2019, they will actually have a very good chance in the tournament.



On a separate note that's also why I think NZ might actually surprise people this WC because Ish Sodhi is a much improved bowler and along with India and England they might have the most well rounded bowling attack in the tournament. And Australia should wake up and start picking Zampa in their XI. He's their best LOI spinner.
 
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the_outsider said:
You made some very good points.

But I have to disagree with you on one thing. Having seen the LOI pitches in England in the last 2-3 years, I don't think fast bowlers will get much help at all. Spin will play a bigger role than pace, in my opinion.

This WC will be about spin bowling & big scores. Pakistan has Fakhar which is great news for them. If they can find a good, aggressive opener to partner Fakhar they will greatly improve their chances.

Pakistan's shortcoming will actually be not having 2 very good spinners. If they sort out their 2nd opener and the spinners improve by June 2019, they will actually have a very good chance in the tournament.



On a separate note that's also why I think NZ might actually surprise people this WC because Ish Sodhi is a much improved bowler and along with India and England they might have the most well rounded bowling attack in the tournament. And Australia should wake up and start picking Zampa in their XI. He's their best LOI spinner.
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True (regarding English wickets) - but still the burning factor of bounce remains, which will be consistently higher than UAE/PAK. Spin attack is one thing I emphasize most in modern era - but, it has to be spin bowling, not darting. These Imad, Nawaz, MoHa style "push through the air", won't work. Someone has to take the pace out of ball so that these modern power hitters are made to wait for the ball, and has to float the ball above eye line, so that sloggers without footwork start to panic.

NZ is extremely consistent side in WC, and quite good ODI team over all - their 2 strengths are ever lasting; extremely fit & outstanding fielding unit and their new ball attack. If they can find a quality 3rd pacer, backed by Sodhi & Santner - indeed they have a better shot than most favorites.
 
MMHS said:
NZ is extremely consistent side in WC, and quite good ODI team over all - their 2 strengths are ever lasting; extremely fit & outstanding fielding unit and their new ball attack. If they can find a quality 3rd pacer, backed by Sodhi & Santner - indeed they have a better shot than most favorites.
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Matt Henry is that 3rd pacer that they need, lockie Ferguson as backup. After Pakistan, new Zealand is who I support, hope they do well!
 
Not getting good vibes from India from their last ODI series in Eng. Dhoni & Raina in this age and on Eng pitches, give me a break!

Raina especially has been so bloody poor that it beggars belief why was he even recalled to India LoI teams? Had anyone closely seen his batting in the 2nd ODI, he'd have noticed how much past Raina is at this level.

Just having 2 good wrist spinners and of course, Kohli won't win you world titles.
 
MP2011 said:
Not getting good vibes from India from their last ODI series in Eng. Dhoni & Raina in this age and on Eng pitches, give me a break!

Raina especially has been so bloody poor that it beggars belief why was he even recalled to India LoI teams? Had anyone closely seen his batting in the 2nd ODI, he'd have noticed how much past Raina is at this level.

Just having 2 good wrist spinners and of course, Kohli won't win you world titles.
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I think the only reason why Raina got games is because India really needs a 6th bowler. Otherwise i don't think Raina would've made it into the squad based only on his batting.

Krunal Pandya seems very keen to play the WC. If he can play the role of a no. 7 batsman and a 5th/6th bowler then it'll go a long way to address India's team balance.

But I am not yet totally sold on his ability to play at the international level. He's good under pressure though. IPL has shown us that.
 
I'm also not too sold on Krunal. If we have any plans for him to play next WC, we'll have to blood him in our Asia cup squad, should not be delayed any further.

As for Raina's bowling prowess or lack of it, its laughable at best. 1-2 good overs once every 5-6 ODIs doesn't render him as our 6th bowling option.
 
As for his batting less we say better it is. His technique was never great to begin with. However it has degenerated so badly over last 2-3 yeras, that it is not even funny.

Always wants to play on legside, hardly has any offside game to speak of, certainly not at international level. Don't think such a dud belongs to this Indian team especially when we have another dud to bear with.
 
MP2011 said:
I'm also not too sold on Krunal. If we have any plans for him to play next WC, we'll have to blood him in our Asia cup squad, should not be delayed any further.

As for Raina's bowling prowess or lack of it, its laughable at best. 1-2 good overs once every 5-6 ODIs doesn't render him as our 6th bowling option.
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Yes agreed totally.

I also think its a good option to bring Jadeja back into the ODI squad.

Because one thing is very clear now - just 1 all-arounder is not going to be enough. We need at least 2. Especially because our bottom 3 cannot bat at all.

I hope India gives proper game time to both Krunal & Jadeja. Then they can pick between those 2 to fill the no 7 batsman's position for the WC.

And yeah Raina is done. I really like him as a person because he is an absolute team man and is a very down to earth person. And he has served the team well for many years. He is still good enough to in the IPL. But unfortunately, his international seems to be over.
 
Regarding Jadeja, I think he was bowling way too flat and perhaps too fast which I think led to end of his effectiveness as a LoI bowler especially on flat decks and hence ouster from India's LoI teams. As the success of KulCha has shown, you've to give ball sufficient air even in LoIs to be successful. Jadeja as an international cricketer would've surely noticed that. He is still very young, fit and a supreme fielder, there is no reason why he can't return to India's LoI teams provided he can sort out his primary cricketing skill.
 
MP2011 said:
Regarding Jadeja, I think he was bowling way too flat and perhaps too fast which I think led to end of his effectiveness as a LoI bowler especially on flat decks and hence ouster from India's LoI teams. As the success of KulCha has shown, you've to give ball sufficient air even in LoIs to be successful. Jadeja as an international cricketer would've surely noticed that. He is still very young, fit and a supreme fielder, there is no reason why he can't return to India's LoI teams provided he can sort out his primary cricketing skill.
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Hopefully he will be able to do it this time around. Because this time his role will be different - he won't have to go searching for wickets. He has to bowl wicket to wicket and do a containing job. And one thing that Jadeja has is control over his line and length.

If he can give 5-7 overs at 5 RPO every match and come in and score a quick 20-30 - he would have done the job for the team.
 
Don't think Jadeja has it in him to score quickfire 20-30s consistently. Had that been the case, he probably won't have lost his LoI spot in the first place.
 
Also, taking wickets is the best strategy to stem flow of opposition runs as KulCha have so effectively shown for more than an year now.

So don't think Jadeja would just be there to stem the flow of runs as that would prove to be counter productive on true decks of England.
 
MP2011 said:
Also, taking wickets is the best strategy to stem flow of opposition runs as KulCha have so effectively shown for more than an year now.

So don't think Jadeja would just be there to stem the flow of runs as that would prove to be counter productive on true decks of England.
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Yes but just like batsmen, different bowlers have different roles to play.

If 3 bowlers - Kuldeep, Chahal & Bumrah are constantly looking for wickets, I think it's a pretty good ploy to have someone who can contain from one end as well. Especially on days when Kulcha go for runs.

And Jadeja averages 31 with the bat. I'm sure he can chip in with the bat. Not everytime. But more often than not.
 
Pakistan often start slowly. If I had to predict the outcome of their games.

vs West Indies - L
vs England - L
vs Sri Lanka - W
vs Australia - W
vs India - L
vs New Zealand - L
vs Afganistan - W
vs South Africa - W
vs Bangladesh - W

Will 5 wins out 9 be enough ? Who knows - Could be decided on run-rate or games could get rained off.
 
ssuhaide said:
Pakistan often start slowly. If I had to predict the outcome of their games.

vs West Indies - L
vs England - L
vs Sri Lanka - W
vs Australia - W
vs India - L
vs New Zealand - L
vs Afganistan - W
vs South Africa - W
vs Bangladesh - W

Will 5 wins out 9 be enough ? Who knows - Could be decided on run-rate or games could get rained off.
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10 teams, 45 games, 90 points on offer - 2 points for win, 1 for tie/wash out. Mathematically, two extremes are making SF with 3 wins - 3 teams end up with 16 points each (8 wins each and a Mexican stand-off among themselves), rest 7 with 6 points each; team with best NRR makes the cut from last group.

On contrary, it's possible to miss the cut even after 7 wins - top 5 win 7 each, that's 70 points taken off and bottom 5 combings with 20 points (simplifying the equation, top 5 wins every game against bottom 5, and 2 each between themselves) - the team with worst NRR will miss the cut even after 7 wins.

Roughly, 5 wins should be enough to edge past. In 1992, there was 9 teams, and 9 points was enough for PAK, actually 8 would have been enough for the side with best NRR - this time, 10 teams and 1 more game, therefore 5 wins might work; 6 almost confirms the cut.

Your perdition (out come), actually can seal a SF spot, because one win is considered against AUS; but same 5 wins, replacing WIN for AUS might not work, because that gives AUS 2 points in head o head - it's like 4 points swing.
 
1. New Zealand
2. India
3 . England
4. Australia
India vs Australia final . India to win. :vk
 
This kind of format can provide unpredictable result. I am still not sure if India will make top 4. India with a top order collapse can pretty much lose to any team in the world except may be Bangla boys.
 
India
England
South Africa
Last spot will be 50/50 between Pakistan and West Indies (Dark horses for the 2019 world cup)
 
jnaveen1980 said:
This kind of format can provide unpredictable result. I am still not sure if India will make top 4. India with a top order collapse can pretty much lose to any team in the world except may be Bangla boys.
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Chances of Afghanistan winning the world cup >> Chances of india NOT making semis
 
jnaveen1980 said:
This kind of format can provide unpredictable result. I am still not sure if India will make top 4. India with a top order collapse can pretty much lose to any team in the world except may be Bangla boys.
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Actually its the opposite. Due to a strong top order and one of the better bowling attacks, India will win games consistently. But due to the weak middle order, we will lose the occasional game.

This means that in the group stage, we will win 6-7 out of the 9 games we play.

But its in the SF and Final where things will get tough, because 1 poor performance from our top 3 could mean curtains for the team.

So, I believe that India should make it to the semis, but will probably lose after that/
 
India and England are fixed.

New Zealand is a really good team, their struggles against India is due to KulCha. So, they'll surely make it to the semis.

Australia will always be in the top 4. But, this time around it'll depend on how Smith fits into the team and his contributions.

Regarding South Africa, if they can overcome choking they have a good chance

Pak, they've to have 40+ overs of attacking bowling

Shaheen
Amir / Junaid / Usman
Hassan
Shadab

Then they'll be capable of reaching semis by chasing 260-275 scores.
 
India
Pakistan
England
West Indies

These will be the four semi-finalists.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
This kind of format can provide unpredictable result. I am still not sure if India will make top 4. India with a top order collapse can pretty much lose to any team in the world except may be Bangla boys.
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If players like Rayudu,Dhoni,Khaleel,Siraj,Bhuvi,DK are in the XI then yes India do have a problem.
They still should qualify for them semis as they have great top order and two brilliant bowlers.
Don't think they are the favourites though.
 
England
Pakistan
South Africa
New Zealand

Australia and India won't qualify for the SF's.
 
Nz got beaten by bangladesh in CT17.
They are getting thrashed now by India.
So i would go with
Australia
England
India
NZ/SA/PAK
WI, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are too weak so might cause an upset but most likely won't reach the semis as consistency is required.
In the semis it is anybody's game.
 
Chokli said:
why do you say that?
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It's called wishful thinking. India will be the first team to book SF spot. They will be robotic in their qualification with ruthless execution during group games
 
Don't see Ind or Eng going beyond SF though. Maybe 2015 WC and 2017 CT are in my mind.
 
a_tahir said:
Why not SA?
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Contrary to popular belief, SA doesn't have any champions waiting on the bench. Duminy has been average and Markram is not even considered good enough for ODIs. This is the first strength SA team that is being pummelled by Pak. AB was the guy that could change their fortunes but even he couldn't do much against Indians last year. 2-2 scoreline in this series is a bit flattering for SA. They are a mid table team on their way down and I expect at least 5 or 6 teams beating SA in WC.
 
Torborg said:
In my opinion, those four teams are best suited for English conditions.
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What English conditions. It's gonna be dry,.flat pitches. That's bread and butter for Indian spinners. Watch cricket much?
 
rhony said:
What English conditions. It's gonna be dry,.flat pitches. That's bread and butter for Indian spinners. Watch cricket much?
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By indian spinners u only mean Yadav right?
Chahal flopped badly in the 3 odi series against eng last year.
 
a_tahir said:
By indian spinners u only mean Yadav right?
Chahal flopped badly in the 3 odi series against eng last year.
Click to expand...

Chahal flopped because that's England batting. Kuldeep failed after first odi too. England are no.1 team and India are no.2. The same Kuldeep and chahal bamboozled every other team
 
rhony said:
It's called wishful thinking. India will be the first team to book SF spot. They will be robotic in their qualification with ruthless execution during group games
Click to expand...
My idea of wishful thinking involves Australia holding the cup.

Your fantasies are documented in the above post. :)

India are a strong team, but there is no reason to call them ruthless. There is no standout team.

In English conditions, India will be extremely vulnerable.
 
Torborg said:
My idea of wishful thinking involves Australia holding the cup.

Your fantasies are documented in the above post. :)

India are a strong team, but there is no reason to call them ruthless. There is no standout team.

In English conditions, India will be extremely vulnerable.
Click to expand...

Every one of your statements can be debunked by facts. That's why I said "watch cricket much". The way India steamrolled SA in SA, Pak in Asia cup, AUS in AUS and now NZ in NZ is called ruthless execution . These wins are abroad and in the opposition home grounds. These are the top teams. India absolutely humiliated these teams and these are in the top 6. At home India beat eng and lost to.eng in Eng. Only Eng can beat Ind at group stage. SF and beyond, anyone can beat anybody else on their day
 
People here rating the Aussies way to high Imo. I wouldn't be surprised if they finish 5th or 6th in the group.
 
Indian-- Firm fav's, others for semis being Eng,NZ and Aus.

Pak under sarfraz is a rubbish team, ICC hurted us by banning him for just 4 matches. SA is another team that is not likely to do anything in the coming WC.
I don't think anyone will be able to stop india from winning the wc for the third time.
 
Torborg said:
You won the 1 day series 2-1 against Australia, and you consider that a ruthless execution?
Click to expand...

That might be a tough fight for you but 2nd and 3rd games were Indian standard templates. Chahal bamboozled Aussies in the 3rd as he did with Saffers and India will hunt down the targets at their leisure pace. NZ cant even bat for 50 overs. Saffers didnt have a clue except for 1 game. Pakistan had 2 of the heaviest defeats in their history aginst India in Asia cup. As I said, Indians are robotic and they will cruise through with ruthless efficiency as they have shown against all the quality teams in the last 1 year. Even the first ODI against Eng was a breeze. They lost the next 2 ODIs to the best team in the world. If thats not a standout performance then I dont know what is.
 
Bleedgreen4ever said:
2-1 against AUS C

Pakistan and SL beat much much better AUS teams in 2002 and 2010 respectively
Click to expand...

Yes India beat AUS at home in ODI series earlier too and AUS was the ATG team then. You having to go back a decade is a joke though
 
rhony said:
That might be a tough fight for you but 2nd and 3rd games were Indian standard templates. Chahal bamboozled Aussies in the 3rd as he did with Saffers and India will hunt down the targets at their leisure pace. NZ cant even bat for 50 overs. Saffers didnt have a clue except for 1 game. Pakistan had 2 of the heaviest defeats in their history aginst India in Asia cup. As I said, Indians are robotic and they will cruise through with ruthless efficiency as they have shown against all the quality teams in the last 1 year. Even the first ODI against Eng was a breeze. They lost the next 2 ODIs to the best team in the world. If thats not a standout performance then I dont know what is.
Click to expand...

Noob pace attack in eng series too
 
Chokli said:
lol as if pandya would have made a difference.

bumrah i can agree with, best bowler in the world currently.
Click to expand...

Pandya brings Kuldeep and CHahal into play. Otherwise Jadeja is in for either Kuldeep or CHahal and he hasnt been as effective. Pandya's 15 quick runs at the end help too
 
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