Participating Teams
Co-hosts, Australia, come into the World Cup ranked No. 1 once more. Injuries have plagued their side with regular captain Michael Clarke having to sit out most of the recent games. But they still managed to win the recently concluded Carlton Mid One-Day International Tri-Series having remained unbeaten in all their games.
Players to watch out for: David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson.
Defending champions, India, haven't had the best of times recently. They were unable to win even a single game in the recent Australian tour. But their players have become well acclimatized with the conditions Down Under, a factor that might come in handy.
Players to watch out for: Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Shami.
Largely tipped by pundits to be one of the favourites to win the tournament purely based on the variety of talent their team boasts of. Whether or not the Proteas can shrug off their infamous 'chokers' tag would be the question in everyone's mind. A place in the knock-out stages is guaranteed at the very least.
Players to watch out for: AB De Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and Faf du Plessis.
Sri Lanka would require their veterans to fire on all cylinders. Their run-up to the mega tournament has been largely unimpressive. An embarrassing loss to Zimbabwe in the warm-ups has highlighted a few glaring holes in the side. Their golden generation of batsmen will be bidding farewell post-tournament.
Players to watch out for: Kumar Sangakarra, Angelo Matthews, Lasith Malinga and Tillikaratne Dilshan.
Tipped as the 'Dark Horses' for the tournament. The English, surprisingly enough, have put on a strong show in limited-overs Cricket in the recent past. In a shocking decision their regular captain, Alastair Cook, was dropped from the World Cup squad. Eoin Morgan has taken up reigns of a young England side who will be looking forward to consolidating their recent form in the format.
Players to watch out for: Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and James Anderson
The Kiwis might not be very high in the rankings but they, along with South Africa, are being tipped as favourites going into the tournament. A very strong pace attack is being complemented by a batting line-up in top form. It also helps that the World Cup is being held in their own backyard so they will be looking to take advantage of that. New Zealand is the team to watch out for in this tournament.
Players to watch out for: Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Luke Ronchi and Adam Milne.
The unpredictables of World Cricket. The only team to have won a World Cup held Down Under. Their run-up to the tournament has been dreadful with straight ODI series losses to New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia. Injuries to their best bowlers has weakened the bowling attack considerably. In spite of being woefully out-of-form, nobody is writing them off just yet. The cornered tigers have a habit of surprising both foe and friend alike.
Players to watch out for: Shahid Afridi, Misbah ul Haq, Mohammad Irfan and Yasir Shah.
West Indies has the ability to surprise but the exclusion of two of their best players, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, based on disciplinary issues has raised many an eye-brow. A young captain who has played a measly 26 ODIs in his career. They have been the worst of the top-eight for the greater part of the past two decades and if there's one team that will find it extremely difficult to progress in the tournament, it's the West Indies.
Players to watch out for: Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle and Jerome Taylor.
The team that may act as a major spoiler. They have defeated some big guns in past tournaments including Pakistan, India and South Africa. Bangladesh can pull off an upset on their on-day.
Players to watch out for: Shakib ul Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Zimbabwe have been in doldrums. A shock victory over Sri Lanka in the warm-ups has put them in the limelight. They have some exciting players in the team but winning games, more often than not, requires team-work. A quality the former Rhodesians may be lacking.
Players to watch out for: Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura and Hamilton Masakadza.
Giant-killers Ireland are the strongest of the Associate sides and may give the top-eight a run for their money. They knocked out Pakistan in the 2007 edition and pulled-off one of the greatest ever heists in the history of the game against England in the previous World Cup.
Afghanistan are first-timers and would be looking to impress. They have a competitive all-round side and have the ability to pull off an upset. UAE and Scotland are not first-timers but there's little chance of them worrying any of the other sides.
The flood-gates are, hereby, declared open!
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