The ICC ODI World Cup is held every four years and is organized by the ICC. Every time a new country bids for the hosting rights for the World Cup. It was previously hosted in England in 2019. This year, the world cup is being hosted by India, so there is a lot of hype and expectations around this tournament. Due to the hosting rights being in India and many other situations that occurred around this World Cup year, there have been a lot of expectations around the World Cup.
1. India To Win The World Cup
As it has been happening since 2011, the hosting team has been winning and such as India won in 2011, followed by Australia, which hosted the world cup in 2015, which was again followed by England, which is the current defending champions and hosted the world cup in 2019. There are many other factors other than the home advantage, such as the team balance, which is proving very effective for the Indian team.
2. Virat Kohli To Be The Top Performer
Virat Kohli is undoubtedly the most experienced Indian batter in the World Cup and other important events. The recent form of Virat Kohli has been hailed as a big comeback in terms of his cricketing career, he has scored centuries in all formats and even back-to-back IPL centuries. The recent form of Virat Kohli has been the key reason for the high level of expectation from not only him but also the Indian team to perform exceptionally well.
3. India-Pakistan Rivalry
The India-pakistan Rivalry has always been the pinnacle of the World Cup and any other event in which both teams would be participating. The controversies and other things around the India-Pakistan matches and the political turmoil that has until now resulted in Pakistan not travelling to India for the upcoming World Cup unless the Indian side visits Pakistan for the Asia Cup through all this, there has been a considerable hype created for the match, even months before the tournament commenced.
4. England-Australia Rivalry
The rivalry between England and Australia is the oldest in the world. There has been a lot of tradition and culture related to this, and many important dates are marked in the cricket calendar regarding these matches. This year is also very significant for the rivalry, as in this calendar year, there is not only the World Cup pressure, where both the teams are considered favourites in the tournament. Plus, there are the Ashes also in the calendar year, this was the case in the last world cup which was in 2019.
5. Iconic Matches In The Stadium Of India
The Indian stadiums have been long renovated and rebuilt in many cities, and the world cup hype has been spreading in each part of the country due to this. Stadiums such as the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad or the Lucknow Stadium, the wonder stadium of Dharamshala and newly renovated historic stadiums such as Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru or the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
6. Major Changes In Teams
The new players and the youngsters would likely be seen and tasked with filling in the boots of the previous players who left their legacies. There have been a lot of ups and downs in every team, and their country politically, affecting their cricket, players and also the management, which had led to massive changes in teams over these years. Such as to be joined by new captains of India, Australia and England who are experienced but will captain a World Cup side for the first time. Or the significant changes such as MS Dhoni’s retirement or Aaron Finch and Eoin Morgan’s retirement for India, Australia, and England respectively.
7. New Players
As there have been major changes in the teams, this has also led to different new players who might like to represent their countries and try to fill in the shoes of these players. All the big nations, which include the likes of India, Australia, New Zealand, England, and South Africa, have been seen changing and making heavy decisions regarding players, which has excited all the fans to see what these new players will bring to the table. Plus, there is also the fact that many of these new players have been spotted by fans not only in India but also all across the world when they played in the IPL.
8. The Dark Horses
All of the current attention is on the main teams and favourites such as India, Australia, England and New Zealand, but there are some dark horses from whom there is a different excitement, and the most prominent of them is the Afghanistan team. This team consists of the best leg spinner and an emerging all-rounder, with the next big face of cricket being Rashid Khan and other Afghanistan players such as Noor Ahmed and other players who are playing IPL and have left a lasting impact, and this is what excited the fans
9. Australia To Win The World Cup
There is no doubt that the Australian team, in any format, is one of the strongest teams in cricket. The Australian team currently has many heavy top-order batsmen combined with arguably the best fast-bowling unit in the world and many skilled all-rounders. Even players such as Glen Maxwell, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and Mitchel Starc have a massive fan base in the country. So the Australian team is always seen as favourites, no matter the condition or the situation of the play
10. South Africa
The South African team is perhaps the one that has gone through the biggest changes since their 2019 world cup campaign and their squad. Due to many reasons, people are excited to see how the South African squad plays the World Cup amid these massive changes, and some South African players have been doing exceptionally well in India due to their IPL performances, such as Faf Du Plessis and David Miller.
