ICC World Cup 2019: Top 4 contenders to win the title

The rehearsal for the biggest cricket tournament begins for all the top 10 countries who have qualified for the World Cup 2019. The mega event begins on 30th May with the host England taking on the Proteas in the tournament opener.

The format of this edition of the World Cup has changed to round-robin format between ten teams with each team playing a total of nine matches. Top 4 teams will progress to a knockout stage of semi-finals and the finals.

It is similar to the 1992 World Cup format where eight teams had competed against each other in round robin format. Lord's will host the finals on 14th July.

All the teams have started their preparations in full flow as less than 12 months are left before the tournament kicks off. After 2015 World Cup till now, some of the teams have played brilliantly while some teams have struggled to get going. With the current form and consistency, let us find out the four strongest contenders for the title.

#4 Australia

The mighty Australians are the most successful team in World Cup history.

The defending champions are one of the strongest teams in world cricket. When it comes to the big tournament, the Aussies are the best performers and have handled the pressure well. In the last five editions of the World Cup, they have won 4 titles and lost only one against India in 2011.

The infamous sandpaper gate incident might have hit the Australia team very hard without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith, but they are still a very strong side. The bowling line-up comprises of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Andrew Tye along with back up bowlers. In the spin department, they have Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa.

The batting also looks solid with the likes of D'Acry Short and Aaron Finch at the top while in the middle order they have Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis. Also, Warner and Smith will return before World Cup which will boost their chances.

The Australian team looks a very balanced side, and with their ability to raise their game in knockout stages they might well defend the world title.

#3 New Zealand

The Kiwis have a real chance to win the World Cup with this team

In the previous editions of the World Cup before 2015, the Kiwis have always been a dark horse team and have always punched above their weights.

In 2015 mega-event, Brendon McCullum and Co changed the perception of their team by playing attacking brand of cricket and going for the kill. As a result, they reached the finals for the first time in World Cup history and ended as runners-up. After McCullum's retirement, Kane Williamson has taken over the captaincy and has led the team beautifully. In this IPL season, he also performed brilliantly along with great captaincy. The New Zealand batting looks solid with Colin Munro and Martin Guptill at the top while in the middle-order they have Williamson, Ross Taylor, and Tom Latham.

The New Zealanders have power hitters in the form of Colin de Grandhomme and Henry Nicholls. Mitchell Santner provides the much-needed balance with his all-around abilities. In the bowling department, Trent Boult and Tim Southee will lead the attack with Mitchell McClenaghan or Adam Milne as the 3rd seamer. The spin duo of Santner and Ish Sodhi also looks lethal and can pick lots of wickets in the middle overs.

Overall, the team looks very strong on paper and will be one of the favorites to win the title considering the English conditions which are similar to their home conditions.

#2 India

Virat Kohli will be the key to India's success in 2019 World Cup.

India, currently ranked at number 2 in ICC ODI rankings, is one of the top contenders to win this World Cup. The team has been in great form winning series and have consistently well.

In the Champions Trophy 2017, India performed brilliantly and ended up as runners-up after losing against their arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals.

The Men in Blue have a formidable batting lineup which includes the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the top order. They have shown great consistency in this format and have scored the majority of the runs. MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik give the required stability in the middle order. Dhoni's presence is a big factor for the team as he can guide Kohli and Co in the pressure situation.

India's bowling has been a big improvement in the past two years with Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the bowling attack. The wrist spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, have also shown great promise with their wicket taking abilities. Hardik Pandya is the much-needed X-factor for this tournament and can play a pivotal role in team's success.

Since the World Cup 2011, India has shown great consistency in big tournaments and have almost qualified in semi-finals and finals. The team has all the ingredients to succeed in this tournament and can go all the way this time around.

#1 England

England is the number one team in the ICC ODI rankings.

After a disastrous performance in the previous World Cup, England has made a big turnaround by playing an aggressive brand of cricket. The ODI team is very much different from the Test team.

The English team is a very strong side covering all the bases and have played brilliantly in last three years. Undoubtedly, they are the team to beat and are the biggest contenders to win this title.

The number one ODI team have the most destructive batting line-up with Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy in the opening slot while Alex Hales, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan will shoulder the middle order responsibility. Jos Butler, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali will play the finisher's role.

In the bowling department, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Mark Wood are the four likely fast bowlers while Adil Rashid will be the only wrist spinner in this team. Apart from the genuine all-rounders, Moeen and Stokes, England has Woakes, Willey, Plunkett, and Rashid who can contribute heavily with the bat.

Considering their strength in home conditions and the fact that last two World Cup winners were the host teams, England is currently looking the clear favorites to win this mega-event.