2023 World Cup vs 2019 World Cup - which was better?
The 2023 Men's ODI World Cup saw Australia triumph with a thumping six-wicket win over hosts India in the final at Ahmedabad. Following a sub-par start to their campaign, the Aussies turned it on and won their next nine games to lift the trophy aloft for the sixth time.
Meanwhile, the Indian side chose the wrong game to play their worst cricket after going unbeaten throughout the tournament, winning all ten outings in the lead-up to the summit clash. As is often the case once, the dust settles in on a World Cup, there is a tendency to compare the recently concluded one to the ones in the past.
While the formats have been ever-changing based on the number of participating teams, the last two World Cups have seen ten teams play each other in a single group during the round-robin stage.
Although comparisons between two different editions four years apart come down to individual preferences, there were several parallels and differences in 2019 and 2023.
That said, breaking down the 2019 and 2023 World Cups could help figure out the more exciting tournament.
# 1 Similar top four, Indian domination & New Zealand's rollercoaster defined the 2019 and 2023 league stages
Three of the top four teams that qualified for the semi-final remained the same in the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. While India, Australia, and New Zealand were three of the four semi-final teams in both editions, South Africa replaced England as the fourth side in 2023.
Team India's domination in the league stage of both events was also similar, winning seven of their eight completed games in 2019 and going one better by running the table in 2023.
New Zealand's runs in 2019 and 2023 were quite similar, with the side starting in red-hot form and then going on a downward slide. Yet, in both cases, they finished fourth to sneak into the semi-final.
The Kiwis just pipped Pakistan for the semifinal spot, who finished fifth in both instances.
# 2 Closer games in 2019 vs Closer points table in 2023
It is a preferential choice on what creates better excitement - more close games through the tournament or having more teams in the battle for semi-final qualification. If the former fits the bill, the 2019 World Cup outdoes the latest edition.
However, if more teams being competitive adds to the excitement, the recently concluded tournament should be placed on a higher pedestal.
One of the criticisms of the 2023 World Cup was the lack of close games and tight finishes. A staggering statistic revealed that for the first time in a World Cup, not a single game lasted 100 overs.
Over half the league stage games were decided by a margin of 100+ runs or by four-plus wickets and 60-plus balls to spare. There were only a handful of closely contested matches like South Africa-Pakistan at Chennai and Australia-New Zealand at Dharamshala.
The 2019 World Cup, in comparison, witnessed less than 30% of its games decided by such one-sided margins.
However, as a whole, the tournament was much closer this year, with all ten teams winning at least two games. It meant more upsets, with Afghanistan and the Netherlands winning six games combined.
The Afghans were in the running for a semi-final spot in a three-way race with New Zealand and Pakistan until Glenn Maxwell's heroics against them. With only two wins separating the fifth and bottom-placed teams, the battle for a top-four finish was alive until the final weekend of the league stage.
But in 2019, Afghanistan losing all nine games, along with the fifth and sixth-place teams (Pakistan and Sri Lanka) segregated by four points, was evidence of the non-competitive nature of the bottom half of the table.
The unpredictability of the 2023 World Cup was enhanced further by defending champions England's unfathomable struggles throughout the competition.
# 3 More exciting semi-finals in 2023 vs the classic final of 2019
The recently concluded World Cup in India produced two contrasting yet equally exciting semi-final games. Team India flexed their muscles against New Zealand in a high-scoring affair by scoring 397, but the Black Caps responded with an impressive run chase before fading away to a 70-run defeat.
The following day saw an old-fashioned low-scoring thriller, with Australia scampering home by three wickets in a 213 run-chase against South Africa. However, the grand finale was a letdown as the Aussies comfortably chased India's 240 despite being in early trouble at 47/3 in just 43 overs.
The opposite happened in 2019, with New Zealand upsetting India by 18 runs in an exciting first semi-final. Yet, the clash between the Ashes rivals, England and Australia, for the second finalist spot was a one-sided contest. England chased down Australia's 223 with eight wickets and almost 18 overs to spare.
Yet, the icing on the cake was the 2019 World Cup playing host to the most evenly-matched and thrilling World Cup final of all time. While New Zealand posted only one run more than India's 240 this time, England scratched and clawed their way to leveling the scores off the final ball of their innings.
The last-ball finish in regulation paved the way for a Super Over, which also ended in a tie off the final delivery, with England prevailing as victors on the boundary count rule.
Although the spectator and broadcasting viewership showed a marked increase this year from the 2019 World Cup, it is touch-and-go picking between the two tournaments. Apart from the glaring similarities, each boasted certain aspects more exciting than the other, making it impossible to choose one of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups.