Cricket World Cup begins

THE 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup starts on Thursday, with the top ten ODI teams in the world set to battle it out for one of the most coveted trophies in sport.

Let the games begin…India and England are favourites to win the tournament?

Hosts England go into the tournament as favourites, having soared to the top of the ICC rankings in one-day cricket since the last World Cup four years ago.

Defending champions Australia will undoubtedly have a say in the competition, however, as will India, led by the best player of his generation, Virat Kohli. South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan complete the line-up and will all be hoping to cause an upset over the next six weeks.

For the first time in history, the World Cup will see all ten teams play each other in a mammoth round-robin system, with the top four progressing to the semi-finals. The last two World Cups have both been won by the host nation and England are expected to challenge for the trophy after enjoying a sensational run in one-day cricket.

But Eoin Morgan’s side are set to face fierce competition as they bid to win the 50-over World Cup for the first time. Here, Metro.co.uk runs through all ten teams competing in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, predicting the fate of the sides involved and picking out the players expected to thrive. – metro.co.uk