For Ray de Galles sake I've finally assayed a mild pun in a cricket thread title, with the lack of success of it testament to why I usually don't.
Anyway, India are big favourites, with Gill, Kishan and SKY adding the super fast scoring to Rohit, Kohli and Rahul's run a ball consistency, plus the best seam attack and the best spin attack. They are ranked number one in ODIs, and they are at home. The only thing counting against them is that they have underperformed in recent big tournaments.
Pakistan have only just lost the number one ranking but their issues were laid bare in their warm-up defeat to NZ - they racked up 350 (which they are extremely good at doing) but with Naseem Shah sadly out of the tournament, and Shaheen Shah Afridi also missing the game they were battered around the park by NZ power players. They need their bowlers to be able to restrict the opposition to below 350 as their batters won't consistently exceed that.
England are a bit of an unknown quantity despite the squad being full of experienced white ball cricketers as their best team has barely played together since 2019. It might gel, it might not, but they have a lot of players who aren't in the best of form. They do bat very deep, which means when things go right they can pile up massive scores.
Australia have issues with their middle order which looks very strong on paper, but none of Stoinis, Maxwell or Carey have been scoring big runs recently, and Head's injury hurts their top order. Lots of good bowlers, but they have conceded some big scores against SA and India in the warm-ups.
New Zealand look good, lots of depth in batting and (especially) bowling. Williamson's injury does hurt them though (he's likely to play some/most of the tournament but obviously will be short of batting practice), despite Mitchell having stepped up into the Mr Dependable role. Too strong to be seen as dark horses - and they've reached the last 2 WC finals.
Bangladesh have left out Tamim, which leaves them a bit short of batters, but they do have some very promising young players coming through. Not having to deal with the Tamim vs Shakib feud may leave them better placed mentally. They've got a good bowling attack for Indian conditions.
South Africa were looking in bad shape a few weeks ago, then suddenly their batters found their form. I think they may struggle if the pitches are doing plenty as their batters aren't that brilliant technically but on flat pitches, they have good hitters and a strong bowling attack.
Afghanistan have very good bowling, but their batting isn't good enough, I don't think. They've also not had as many games together as you'd want.
Sri Lanka struggled a bit to qualify, but they have now got an excellent and varied bowling attack. Their batting is far more inconsistent and that will mean they won't be winning the tournament, but they can beat anyone on their day.
Netherlands have barely played a game since their amazing qualification. They've slightly strengthened their side with a handful of county players returning, but the fact that a few county journeymen returning has improved their squad shows how big their task is. They may cause a shock, but the aren't getting out of their group.
Anyway, India are big favourites, with Gill, Kishan and SKY adding the super fast scoring to Rohit, Kohli and Rahul's run a ball consistency, plus the best seam attack and the best spin attack. They are ranked number one in ODIs, and they are at home. The only thing counting against them is that they have underperformed in recent big tournaments.
Pakistan have only just lost the number one ranking but their issues were laid bare in their warm-up defeat to NZ - they racked up 350 (which they are extremely good at doing) but with Naseem Shah sadly out of the tournament, and Shaheen Shah Afridi also missing the game they were battered around the park by NZ power players. They need their bowlers to be able to restrict the opposition to below 350 as their batters won't consistently exceed that.
England are a bit of an unknown quantity despite the squad being full of experienced white ball cricketers as their best team has barely played together since 2019. It might gel, it might not, but they have a lot of players who aren't in the best of form. They do bat very deep, which means when things go right they can pile up massive scores.
Australia have issues with their middle order which looks very strong on paper, but none of Stoinis, Maxwell or Carey have been scoring big runs recently, and Head's injury hurts their top order. Lots of good bowlers, but they have conceded some big scores against SA and India in the warm-ups.
New Zealand look good, lots of depth in batting and (especially) bowling. Williamson's injury does hurt them though (he's likely to play some/most of the tournament but obviously will be short of batting practice), despite Mitchell having stepped up into the Mr Dependable role. Too strong to be seen as dark horses - and they've reached the last 2 WC finals.
Bangladesh have left out Tamim, which leaves them a bit short of batters, but they do have some very promising young players coming through. Not having to deal with the Tamim vs Shakib feud may leave them better placed mentally. They've got a good bowling attack for Indian conditions.
South Africa were looking in bad shape a few weeks ago, then suddenly their batters found their form. I think they may struggle if the pitches are doing plenty as their batters aren't that brilliant technically but on flat pitches, they have good hitters and a strong bowling attack.
Afghanistan have very good bowling, but their batting isn't good enough, I don't think. They've also not had as many games together as you'd want.
Sri Lanka struggled a bit to qualify, but they have now got an excellent and varied bowling attack. Their batting is far more inconsistent and that will mean they won't be winning the tournament, but they can beat anyone on their day.
Netherlands have barely played a game since their amazing qualification. They've slightly strengthened their side with a handful of county players returning, but the fact that a few county journeymen returning has improved their squad shows how big their task is. They may cause a shock, but the aren't getting out of their group.
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