The Field’s World Cup 2019 wishlist: What we would like to see at cricket’s marquee event

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup returns to England after 20 years as (only) the 10 best teams take on each other to determine the best among the best.

With the 12th edition of the World Cup starting on 30 May, our team at The Field list out the one thing we would love to see at the tournament.

Ashish Magotra

Would it not be nice if ODI cricket can find the right balance?

If things stay the way they are, ODI cricket will eventually lose its place in the cricket calendar. Test cricket is for the purists, T20 is for the new convert. So who is ODI cricket for? To many, ODI cricket is now an extension of T20 cricket but if the ICC really wants to make sure ODI cricket survives then it needs to ensure that the pitches prepared for the tournament are not just batting beauties.... and they shouldn’t be just grassy either. It won’t be easy but there is a huge gap between Tests and T20s; ODIs should and can fill that gap. My wish for the World Cup would be to see pitches that give both batsmen and bowlers a chance to shine. ODI cricket can be so much more than T20 cricket and the World Cup should show us how.

Abhijeet Kulkarni

Just like 2015, it would be good to see a bowler winning player of the tournament award. Underdog stories are the most charming and given the way the recently concluded England vs Pakistan series went and the talk around the possibility of a team scoring 500 runs in this world cup, the bowlers are going to be the real underdogs. Hopefully one of them will manage to challenge the batsmen’s hegemony and repeat what Mitchell Starc managed to do four years back despite the highest number of centuries scored in World Cup history.

Aditya Chaturvedi

Of the ten countries that will participate in the 2019 edition, five have won the 50-over marquee event in the past.

Australia have won the tournament five times [1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015], the most for any country. India [1983, 2011] and West Indies [1975, 1979] have been World champions twice, while Sri Lanka [1996] and Pakistan [1992] have claimed the trophy once each.

Which leaves half of the competing nations – South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and hosts England – without a single title to their name. It’s widely agreed that the favourites this time around are Australia, India and England [party because of their home advantage but mostly because of their ascent to the No. 1 spot in the ODI rankings].

While rooting for one’s own country is only natural, watching a team hold aloft the trophy for the first time wouldn’t be too disappointing. And definitely good for the game, in general.

Kaushal Shukla

The West Indians have contributed to a large extent in T20 cricket both at international and club level. The likes of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo have been heartbeats of their respective teams in various T20 leagues over the last few years. As a unit playing in the maroon, they’ve conquered the world, winning the ICC World T20 in India in 2016.

However, absence of these top stars has marred their performances in the ODIs. The Windies have been making up the numbers at ODI World Cups for a while now and had to go through qualifiers to get here.

It has been 23 years since they qualified for the semi-finals. For the two-time winners who were once an indomitable force in world cricket, things may just be looking bright again in the 50-over format. The return of Gayle, Russell to the ODI outfit has boosted their ranks. But at the same time, a pace bowling line-up of Jason Holder, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Oshane Thomas is very exciting. Windies have not had an intimidating pace attack for a while, but their current crop could just be the X-factor that propels them among the ODI elite again. One can hope.

Nicolai Nayak

With major talk about how the flat wickets and fast outfields in England will make it a batsman’s paradise, I would like to see batsmen score more centuries and half-centuries in the World Cup than four years back.

The 2015 edition Down Under witnessed 38 tons and 149 half-centuries being scored from a total of 48 matches - the most of any edition - so there is a possibility history might repeat itself yet again.

From underdogs Afghanistan and Bangladesh to favourites like England and India, every team is packed with big-hitters who could light up the tournament on their given day. It has always been the fours and the sixes that captivate the audience’s attention and many more feats like this will make the upcoming edition a memorable one.

Vinay Siwach

As an Indian, the first pick to win World Cup should be India. But they are my third best choice: New Zealand should win it.

New Zealand have never won the cup despite always bringing a talented, winnable team.

They reached the final in 2015 but lost to Australia.

It was a World Cup which will be remembered for their fairytale. There are so many reasons. The Brendon McCullum letter to offices to let workers watch the team. The Daniel Vettori catch in the quarter-final when he leaped close to the boundary and plucked it from the air. Tim Southee’s spell against England. Grant Elliott’s innings in the semis. But they fell short at the end.

Hopefully, they do not this time. A talented team with a world-class bowling attack, a captain who is a great batsman and, more importantly, they are the good boys of cricket.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan

Imagine this: A high pressure World Cup match that will determine whether your team progresses in the tournament or not. Few runs to defend in the last over. Opponent has just one wicket remaining but victory is in sight. The non-striker, under pressure, decides to sneak a few yards in before the bowler delivers the ball. There are two ways this can go.

Scenario 1): Courtney Walsh decided to stop in his run-up and warn the non-striker instead of winning the match for his side against Pakistan in 1987. Abdul Qadir, then, hit the winning runs. West Indies returned home. Walsh was hailed.

Scenario 2): Keemo Paul, in the Under-19 World Cup match against Zimbabwe, decided to run out the non-striker. Zimbabwe lost the match as West Indies decided not to withdraw the appeal; went on to become eventual champions. Paul was called names for doing something entirely within the law-book.

I think it’s about time we see the second scenario at the World Cup this year when the match is on the line. The criticism was once again sharp when R Ashwin did it in the IPL, but only if more teams start doing this, will the stigma surrounding ‘Mankading’ (which should be stopped and just be called run-out) start to fade away.

The final word on this is best left to Ian Bishop, who said after the U-19 World Cup incident: “History of Mankad is such, it causes stigma. Future cricket matches have to kill this.”

Let’s start that now.

R Vishal

More of 2015, please

There has been a lot of talk about the 2019 World Cup largely favouring batsmen but a close game, even if high-scoring, is still entertaining. England should take a cue from the previous edition, where Australia and New Zealand were co-hosts. There were thrilling high-scoring encounters. The Aussies won their fifth World Cup crown on the back of some terrific performances with the bat.

However, the 2015 edition had a good mix of low-scoring games too. Take the Australia-New Zealand game at Eden Park for instance. The battle of the underdogs between Scotland and Afghanistan was another nail-biter. Frequent scores between 350 and 400 might take the fun out of the contest for some. However, there is an audience that tunes in just to watch the ball sail over the fence as well.

And additionally. It will be nice to see a new champion in the game. England, South Africa and New Zealand have come close. Hope they go one better.

Zenia D’Cunha

Let’s see the lower ranked teams punching above their weight to raise questions over the format.

The 2019 World Cup may have fewer teams but the format means every team plays each other and every match counts, much like that in 1992.

In such a format, an underdog triumph holds a lot more value. If Afghanistan or even Bangladesh, Sri Lanka pull off a surprise win over a top team, it will add a twist to the standings and make the competition more interesting.

The hope is that the marquee India vs England match – between the two biggest pre-tournament favourites – to be played on 30 June, exactly a month since the tournament opener, it is not a dead rubber.

Maybe, just maybe, there will be enough competitive matches between all 10 teams to make sure the group stages go to the wire. And for that, we will need the lower-ranked team make their presence felt, not just for their sake but for the ones who missed out being a part of the game’s “biggest” event.

Here’s looking at you, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and West Indies (maybe?)!