England Cricket Team Is The Favorite To Win The

World Cup 2019

By: Waqas Zaffar, 1811183, BBA 2-B

Approximately Two hundred and three countries around the globe, lots of them
divided by barriers and have long-histories for the partition. What certainly
connects these countries with each other is Sports. I would suggest, sports is key to
peace. With Sports comes great power. Taking a real life example of the famous
Pakistani cricketer who tied knots with the Indian tennis superstar, Sania
Mirza.Who would have believed that such a tie between two individuals would
originate? Sports surely have to be given credit for it.

The twelfth Cricket Mega Event is fast approaching, it is almost a month away.
Just a couple of days ago, most of the Cricketing bodies announced their fifteen
member squad for the event. England are yet to announce their fifteen members to
feature in the World Cup, the ECB is delaying to announce their squad as they are
still waiting to get the nod to include the Jamaican born Jofra Archer who will be
legible to represent England after he has been given the Red passport. Apart from
this twenty-five year old sensation, England has a lot of experience in their lineup.
More importantly, they are playing in their own backyard and have the home
support behind them. It is something English cricket and their die-hard fans are
desperately waiting to cement their name on the record books by lifting the Cup on
the 14th of July which would be a complete packhouse, the great former Irish
sensation, Eoin Morgan (now England skipper) would want to be the first English
captain to lift the Mega Cup.The current expected England team is likely to be
somewhat same as the 2015 event which saw a poor showing from the new and
struggling side under Eoin Morgan. England want to win this Event even more
because cricket is a gentlemen’s game and the English only invented this form of
sport i.e. cricket. The team always delivered in previous occassions, but
unfortunately was not able to get the results in ICC events. They were on the losing
side on three occassions, one which included the 1979 world cup which was also
held in England.
No looking back to those days, every day is a new-day, after the shocker by
Pakistan in the 2017 champions trophy, England has not lost even a single ODI
series, beating the likes of the West Indies, Australia two times, New Zealand,
India and Srilanka.Considering the other teams, England have the luxury of two
wicket keepers in the form of Jos Buttler and Johnny Bairstow, who can even open
the innings. In case of poor form shown by either one, Morgan may have the
leverage to include an extra-bowler if needed according to the wicket and playing
conditions. To get into the ICC ODI rankings in the Top 20 is something special.
Joe Root(the test captain),Jos Buttler and Johnny Bairstow are all ranked among
the top 20.Recently rewarded with Knighthood, Sir Alastair Cook who is the
highest run-getter for England cricket termed the England cricket team “settled”
and have an outstanding chance to lift trophy. He added that the loss to Pakistan in
the semi-final in 2017 would have made the team even stronger mentally.
England also got the green-signal from the former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly
who when asked the question of the team being favourite for the World Cup, he
clearly stated that England might be up for their first World Cup triumph. The
legendary Shane Warne is very famous for his predictions, he predicted the result
of the India VS England match at the 2011 World Cup and it just got true as
neither of the sides ended up losing, he again has termed England as the hot
favorites in an interview with Metro Sports UK.

As it is evident, England cricket team has not attained that much of success in ICC
events. In the recently concluded Champions Trophy, England were yet again
favorites to win the Trophy but got shocked by Pakistan in Cardiff in the semi-
finals. Moreover, India also has got a lot of firepower which can dent any
opposition on a given day; England should be looking out for India and Pakistan
very closely.
A major setback to England occurred as star opener Alex Hales failed ECB
recreational drugs policy, that also for the second time ,it is not sure whether he
would be punished for his actions, if he is sacked, it would be someone new
alongside Jason Roy opening the innings for England, which would tend to
bamboozle the settled opening striking-pair. Hales plays vital-role to get his team
off to a flying start and putting the opposition under pressure, he was in sublime
form in the recently concluded tour of the West Indies, denting the Home side
heavily with his blade. Another setback to the Barmy Army was Sam Billings
being injured. This happened when he was playing for Kent and while fielding hurt
his shoulder and took not much time to leave the field. It got confirmed later that
he dislocated his left shoulder. Some fans have been vocal about England lacking
experience in their bowling department with the likes of Broad and Anderson
missing out for the Mega Event.
According to the Telegraph, England are the top ranked ODI team and have a
complete balanced-side, which is capable of pleasing the fans and proving the
rumors put on by the cricket pandits.The mighty English have not lost a series after
the Champions Trophy lost to Pakistan in the semi-finals, beating India, Australia ,
Sri Lanka and West Indies.
Furthermore, Muhammad Hafeez, the Pakistani all-rounder, Muhammad Hafeez
while talking to GTV News Network clearly mentioned the chances of England as
the favorites alongside arch-rivals India to win the World Cup.

Additionally, Metro News clearly stated, Ian Chappel also mentioned the chances
and the recent form England Cricket team have had in white ball cricket, it is very
likely that Morgan may be lifting the prized possession on the Finals at Lords. In
another interview, Sealey writes that former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie
has also termed England as the favourites, mentioning clearly that England have
won nine out of their ten last bilateral series held in England but also mentioned his
own team, Australia as the dark horses and can outplay any team on a given day,
much like Pakistan, especially with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith in
baggy green colors.

England cricket has been through ups and downs since a long time, but are yet to
win big for their country. It is certainly time for the players to step up and deliver
for their people under their own favorable conditions. As far as I think, England
should go on to lift up the Trophy and dedicate the epic win to the recently
awarded Knighthood, Sir Alastair Cook, he would certainly be proud of the
outcome of the result. As a cricket fan, and keeping in mind the background of
cricket, it was the English who invented this game and they should have something
to be happy about their achievements.

England cricket is in safe hands, it is safe to say that. They have the tools to
analyze the situation, be it as worse or as good as it gets. Considering the English
team with the other 9 teams, their team is very balanced and has the answer to any
given situation. or instance, if the team collapses in batting, there would certainly
be enough batting deep down, including the likes of Liam Plunkett and Liam
Dawson who suppose to share good runs with the bat.Similarly,if a situation arises
when the bowlers are being hammered, the England test captain can also roll his
arm over and chip in with a few wickets and economical overs.Not forgetting the
two powerhouses ,the great wicket keepers England tend to have, Bairstow and Jos
Butler who can also dent the opposition rather easily. The conditions would play
the most important role as most of the English players have grown up playing in
these conditions which would prove to be handy for them when they step on to the
field. They are very familiar with the conditions and would not have problems
facing and would rather deliver chin-music to the other batters, instead of being on
the receiving end.

England cricket team cannot afford to lose this edition of the World Cup because
everything is in their favor, everyone is backing them to come out on top, failing to
win the 2013 Champions Trophy, losing to India in Edgbaston, Birmingham.Four
years later losing to India’s arch-rivals, Pakistan. In my opinion, if England do not
win this world cup, they are very likely to share the tag of “Chokers” which is
attributed to South African cricket team. But looking back to 2010,England did
come out on top as the winners as they held the trophy under Paul Collingwood, so
to say that England are chokers is not correct yet, they have won an ICC event
before. Even though big players are missing like Pietersen as mentioned earlier and
James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
But my money is on England cricket as they have the ability to do wonders and on
top of it, they are very consistent which not every team is. The hard challenge they
are going to face will be against their arch-rivals, the mighty Aussies, no forgetting
India and some even say that Pakistan can be as big of a threat as any team.
Pakistan, the series which is to commence from the 5th of May. With the quality
they possess, England should definitely win this World Cup.

References:
1. CBC news
2. Metro sport
3. GTV news network
4. Telegraph