The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will begin tomorrow as defending Champions England will face runners-up New Zealand in the opening match to be played at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. It promises to be an exciting tournament with 10 teams taking part in it.
Each team will play once in the league stage and the top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals. The competition would see some of the teams rise to the occasion and make sure that they enter the top 4 spots with all-round performance.
India, Australia, New Zealand, England, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and South Africa qualified directly finishing in the top in the 8 ICC ODI Super League tournament while Sri Lanka and Netherlands made it into the mega event reaching the top two of ODI qualifying played this year.
Here we look at the Top 4 Probable Contenders To Reach The Semi-finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023:
- India
The Indian Cricket Team is looking for a strong unit and playing in their home conditions. Rohit Sharma and Co would be high on confidence as they won Asia Cup 2023 losing just 1 match in the entire tournament.
They have a brilliant batting order with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav who can change the course of the game with their batting. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shardul Thakur are three all-round options.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj are the three top-quality pace bowling options that can dent the opponents in the first 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin comprise three spin bowling options that can create damage to the opponent’s batter.
They will be playing teams in different venues and qualify for the semi-finals with some lovely performances that would create an impact. Team India’s first encounter will be against Australia on 8th October and would look to begin with a bang.
- Australia
The Australian Cricket Team always steps up when major ICC events come up. Under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, the 5-time World Cup champions look strong with the likes of Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell who can change the course of the game.
Australia has a strong pace bowling attack comprising Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Sean Abbott that can put pressure on the batters in the first 10 overs. Adam Zampa is the lone specialist spinning option which could be a trouble if the likes of Starc, Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood go for runs.
They are one of the favourites to reach the top 4 stages. Their first match is against Team India on 8th October in Chennai and would look for a bright start.
- England
England is the defending Champions of the World Cup winning the title in 2019 against New Zealand in thrilling finals played at Lords. This team will be led by Jos Buttler and will look to defend the title.
They have a strong batting unit that comprises Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, and Liam Livingstone who can change the course of the game with their explosive batting.
Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, and Ben Stokes are comprised of strong all-rounders who can contribute with both bat and ball. The pace bowling options comprise David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, and Reece Topley who can utilize the conditions.
Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are the two genuine spin bowling options while Liam Livingstone can do the part-time duties. They would begin their journey against New Zealand at Ahmedabad on 5th October and would look to defend their title.
- New Zealand
New Zealand proves its worth with some lovely performances in ICC tournaments. Under the captaincy of Kane Williamson, the Kiwis lost to England in the 2019 World Cup finals to England playing some lovely cricket.
It looks like a strong batting unit with the likes of Devon Conway, Will Young, captain Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, and Mark Chapman that can put pressure on the opponents with their explosive batting.
Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, and Matt Henry are the four pace bowling options that can create trouble for the opponent batters especially Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santer are two genuine spin-bowling options that can trouble the batters in middle overs.
Kane Williamson and Co would look to go one step ahead to win the first-ever ICC trophy in his cabinet.
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