Ten days to go for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the showpiece one-day international (ODI) tournament. The 12th edition to be hosted by England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July promises aplenty. The first match will be played at The Oval while the final will be played at Lord’s. It is the fifth time that the Cricket World Cup will be held in England and Wales, following the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999 World Cups.
All play all
The format for the tournament will be a single group of 10 teams, with each team playing the other nine once, and the top four at the end of the group phase progressing to the semi-finals. This means a total of 45 matches will be played, with each team playing a total of nine matches. The top four teams from the group will progress to the knockout stage. A similar format was previously used in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, though that tournament featured nine teams instead of ten.
Those in the race
In the last edition two editions of World Cup, there were 14 teams in the fray. However it has been limited to ten this time. They include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangaldesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies, All teams had to submit the names of their respective World Cup squads by 23 April, 2019. The teams are allowed to change players in their 15-man squad anytime up to seven days prior to the start of the tournament.
Afghanistan won the qualifying tournament defeating the West Indies in the final. Both teams qualified for the World Cup, while Zimbabwe despite hosting the qualifying tournament failed to reach the final and will miss the World Cup for the first time since 1983.
The opener
The first match of the tournament will see England play South Africa at The Oval (30 May). Australia will launch their title defence on 1 June against Afghanistan in Bristol and India, the 1983 and 2011 world champions, will play their first match on 5 June against SA in Southampton.
Winners in England so far…
West Indies won the trophy when World Cup was held in England in 1975 and 1979, India emerged winners in 1983 and Australia became world champions in 1999. Only on two occasions, the hosts have won the World Cup – India (2011) and Australia (2015).
Prize money
The World Cup 2019 winners will receive a record $4 million for lifting the trophy, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced. In all, a total of $10 million is on offer.
Venues
The matches will be played at Edgbaston (Birmingham), Bristol, Chester-le-Street, Headingley (Leeds), Lords & The Oval (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), Trent Bridge (Nottingham), Rose Bowl (Southampton), Taunton & Cardiff (Wales). The semi-finals will be played at Birmingham and Manchester, while the finals will take place at Lords.
One from India
The ICC has announced names of 16 umpires in the International Elite Panel to officiate the matches. And there is only one from India this time. Sundaram Ravi, who umpired several Test matches, One Day Internationals as well as Twenty20 Internationals, will officiate few matches. After a string of below average umpiring decisions in international matches was unanimously decided to be dropped from the Elite Panel after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. He shall leave the panel with Ian Gould, who is set to retire.
When & Where to watch?
All matches involving Team India will begin at 3.30 pm. They can be watched in Star Sports & DD Sports. The matches are streamed live in Hot Star.