3 favorite teams who could win the ICC World Cup 2019

The ICC World Cup 2019, to be held in England, is just a few months away. All the teams are on their last legs to finalize their team composition. It is the fifth time that the coveted tournament will be held in England, with the final taking place in London's Lord's Cricket Ground – The Mecca of Cricket, on 14th July 2019.

The format of the tournament has been reverted to the one used in 1992, where 10 teams took part and played each team at least once, with the top-4 teams moving ahead for the knockout stages of semifinal and final.

This will be the first tournament where the World Cup will be contested without all of the Test-playing nations contesting, as the Test-playing nations have increased from 10 to 12 with the inclusion of Ireland and Afghanistan in June 2017. Further, after the elimination of all the Associate Members in the qualifying tournament, this will also be the first World Cup to feature no Associate Members.

Afghanistan won the qualifying tournament defeating the West Indies in the final. Both teams qualified for the World Cup, while Zimbabwe, despite hosting the qualifying tournament, failed to reach the final and will miss the World Cup for the first time since 1983.

Here are the 3 favorite teams to lift the World Cup in 2019 as of now.

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#1 England

Will England finally be able to lay their hands on the World Cup trophy?

England's ODI team has become one of the strongest in world cricket in the past few years. Inspired by their attacking captain Eoin Morgan, the team looks set to win the World Cup trophy for the first time in their history. England has reached the final thrice but have not won the World Cup, ending as runner-up in all three final appearances.

They are currently ranked number 1 in ODI cricket, having won their last nine series' of two or more matches and winning 41 of their 54 fixtures since June 2016. England has an exhilarating batting attack, a plethora of all-rounders and a more than decent bowling attack.

The only weakness present in the team currently is their habit of getting bowled out cheaply on some rare occasions. Their recent record loss to Sri Lanka and one a few months back against Scotland will bound to hurt them the most.

Nevertheless, this is easily the best England ODI side ever and is undoubtedly expected to give the country the first joy of glory in the World Cup.

#2 India

Can India repeat it's feat of 1983 and 2011?

Indian cricket is at an all-time high across all formats currently and ODI cricket is no exception. Their current ranking of number 2 is just a testament to the fact. India, previously having won the Cup in 1983 and 2011 and they would love to add one more Cup to their collection.

Indian batting has always been the envy of the cricketing world, but it is the bowling, which for the first time is giving fierce competition to the famed batting group. India is fortunate to have two best-limited overs fast bowlers in Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah, while the spin duo of Kuldeep and Chahal have been a revelation since they were promoted to the International side.

Coupled with two strong attacking opening batsmen in Rohit and Dhawan and the skipper Kohli at number 3, India has the firepower to counter any bowling attack in the world.

With Dhoni in Kohli's side, his experience in the field will be precious for the Indian team. The only thing left for India at the moment is to finally solve their middle order puzzle, with Rayudu being almost confirmed by the captain Kohli for the number 4 role and Jadhav as well due to his extra bowling prowess.

Thus India, in all rights, can dream to bring the trophy back home in 2019.

#3 Australia

With Warner and Smith back by the time of the tournament, Aussies would leave no stone unturned to retain the Cup

The defending champions Australia might not be seen as the firm favorites currently based on their recent form, but we can never count out the Aussies.

By the time of the World Cup, Australia's two best batsmen Warner and Smith would have completed their ban due to the ball-tampering saga and will be itching to make up for the lost time in their career. The ODI World Cup will be the optimal time to announce themselves back to International cricket with a bang.

The Aussie team also has other dangerous batting options in Chris Lynn, Aaron Finch, Glen Maxwell, D'Arcy Short to name a few. Their bowling attack will feature pacers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood considering that they are all fit at that time.

The only apparent weakness could be their spin bowling stock in the World Cup. Otherwise, this team will have all the firepower to win the Cup for the record 6th time out of the 12 competitions held.

The dark horses for the tournament will be the usual suspects- unpredictable Pakistan, chokers South Africa and unfancied but supremely talented New Zealand.