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India takes on Australia in Match 14 of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. The two sides collide on June 9, 2019, at Kennington Oval in London, England.
India squad
India is one of the most consistent teams in all of cricket. In the last eight years, India has won a pair of ICC tournaments – the 2011 World Cup at home and the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. They were also the runners-up at the 2014 World T20 and the 2017 Champions Trophy. India also reached the semifinals stage of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2016 World T20. They enter the 2019 World Cup having won 10 out of their last 12 bilateral series since the Champions Trophy. During that period, they also won an Asia Cup and achieved their first test series win over Australia. This is the #2 ranked team in the world and the 2nd favorites in the cricket betting odds.
Here is India’s squad for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup:
Virat Kohli (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav
Australia squad
The winners of the 2015 World Cup looked like they were dead after losing 18 out of 22 ODIs right after the 2017 Champions Trophy but in recent months, they have emerged as World Cup contenders again with series wins over India and Pakistan prior to the start of the World Cup. Under the guidance of captain Aaron Finch, they have come together again and have shifted to another gear just in time for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. The five-time champions opened with a seven wickets win over Afghanistan during their World Cup Opener.
Here is the lineup for the defending Cricket World Cup champions:
Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Who Wins?
India has yet to play in the 2019 ICC World Cup and will open their campaign on June 5th against South Africa. The #2 ranked ODI team in the world. KR Rahul and MS Dhoni appear to be in good form as both scored centuries during India’s warm-up match against Bangladesh. Dhoni’s 113 scores came from only 78 balls while Rahul may have earned the #4 spot with his efforts during the warm-ups.
Jasprit Bumrah is the #1 ranked ODI bowler in the world and the 25-year old has a total of 85 wickets to his name. India’s spin bowlers also look to be in shape for the tournament as Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also displaying fine form against Bangladesh by picking up three wickets each. With a strong batting line-up made up of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli who have 42 ODI hundreds between them since the last World Cup, India will be hard to stop.
Australia won their opening match against Afghanistan but there were times when they lacked discipline with the ball and gave their opponent plenty of scoring chances. If Australia is to contain India, then the likes of Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa must do better as they were expensive against Afghanistan. The defending champions’ batting was very good in their opening match as David Warner scored 89 runs and was well-supported by Aaron Finch’s 66 runs. With the likes of Warner on the team, expect the crowd to continue to jeer the Australian contingent.
Starc will be the barometer for Australia as he leads a strong fast-bowling group that includes Pat Cummins Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson and Jason Behrendorff. The return of Steve Smith and David Warner have not only made Australia a better team but one that is more confident to win. That said, I don’t know if we saw their best in their opening match against Afghanistan. A win is a win and we have so far not seen India play yet but I think they are the real deal. On the other hand, I’m not sure if Australia is good enough to win it all or even win over India. Prediction: India
