3 teams with the most difficult starts to 2023 World Cup
Although the 2023 World Cup will be played in a round-robin format, where each of the 10 teams will play the other nine at least once, the schedule can never be exactly even for everyone. Conditions, turnover time between matches, and which opponent you'll face at the start and at the end, all matter.
In this piece, we'll discuss the latter factor and figure out which three teams will face the most difficult opponents at the start of their campaign. The difficulty level will be based on their performances in the 2019 World Cup and the World Cup Super League. You can understand the calculation process behind it here.
#3 England
Defending champions and for many pundits, the favorites to win the World Cup back to back, England, will have the third most difficult start to the tournament.
They'll start by locking horns with familiar foe New Zealand, the 2019 runner-ups, and the best team in the Super League, on October 5 in Ahmedabad.
They'll then go on to play Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The two Asian teams didn't have a great 2019 World Cup but have been in good form in the Super League.
Afghanistan won 14 of their 24 matches while Bangladesh took 15 wins.
#2 Afghanistan
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Afghanistan will play Bangladesh and heavyweights India and England in their first three matches of the 2023 World Cup, taking the difficulty rating to 43.
Although India were among the worst performers in the Super League, having won just 13 of their 24 matches, the then-Virat Kohli's team had finished at the top of the table in the 2019 World Cup.
Afghanistan are the under-dogs but the fact they have qualified for the tournament directly ahead of West Indies and Sri Lanka epitomizes their quality. But their spinners might find it difficult on the likely fresh pitches at the start in India.
#1 Bangladesh have the most difficult start in the 2023 World Cup
Bangladesh have by far the most difficult start lined up for the 2023 World Cup. The Tigers will start their campaign against Afghanistan on October 7.
However, they will go on to play the 2019 World Cup finalists and the toppers of the Super League table, England and New Zealand back-to-back next.
Every other team in the 2023 World Cup will only face one of them in their first three matches. Bangladesh will thus need to make the most of their clash against Afghanistan and then try to stretch one of the other two as much as they can.