3 teams with the easiest start in 2023 ODI World Cup
Well begun is half done, they say; but when you plan a competition as big as the World Cup with 10 teams, 10 cities, and a million political dramas, not everyone gets an ideal start.
The same will happen for the 2023 edition of cricket's biggest prize, some teams have easy first few games, while others have it a bit rough.
How do we judge that? Here's a simple spreadsheet. We will take the first three opponents for each of the eight teams plus the two yet-to-be-decided ones (the leaders from the ongoing Qualifier Super Sixes in Zimbabwe). There are just two measurements to check the opponent's strength: a) How they performed in the World Cup Super League and b) How they performed in the 2019 World Cup.
Ten teams from the 2019 World Cup have been given points in descending order. England have 10, New Zealand nine, India and Australia were semi-finalists but the former finished ahead in the table so has eight, and so on.
The same goes for the Super League table. We don't know which teams will qualify in Zimbabwe, but the maximum rating they can have is six, so that's what they have been assigned.
We are just judging the quality of the opponents here with the simplest quantifiable means, with an understanding that cricket depends on much more than form, and everything will vary according to pitch conditions, turnover times after games, etc.
On that note, let's look at three teams that have got a relatively easy start:
#3 Qualifier 2
The team finishing in second place in the Super Sixes (which, at this moment, looks to be either Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe), would have a fairly undemanding start to the main event.
They'll face Pakistan and Australia to start the campaign but will play against the team qualifying ahead of them for the third match.
Both Australia and Pakistan had a middling 2019 ODI World Cup campaigns. Pakistan didn't make it to the semi-finals, while Australia were knocked out by England in the last-four stage.
Pakistan didn't do well in the Super League either, finishing seventh with 13 wins from 24 matches.
#2 South Africa and Australia
days to go until the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup so here’s the schedule for our Aussie men! 
💯 days to go until the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup so here’s the schedule for our Aussie men! 🇦🇺 https://t.co/3Po3rrNFPJ
The difficulty rating for both South Africa and Australia's first three opponents is the same.
The Proteas will face both the Qualifiers in their first three games, with the match against Australia sandwiched in between on October 13. They had a poor 2019 World Cup and were the last team to secure direct entry to the 2023 event.
Australia, meanwhile, will start against India. Rohit Sharma's men's difficulty rating looks less than what it should be, the least because the tournament is in India, but they grossly under-performed in the Super League stage. Out of 24 ODIs, they won only 13 and lost eight, languishing sixth in the table.
Pat Cummins and Co. will then go up against the Proteas followed by a match against the team qualifying at first in the Super Sixes.
#1 Pakistan
Babar Azam's Pakistan have relatively the easiest start to the 2023 ODI World Cup.
They'll face both the Qualifying teams back-to-back on October 6 and 12, respectively, before taking on arch-rivals India in Ahmedabad on October 15.
The small turnaround between the second and third matches might make it a bit difficult for them against the home side.
However, they'll expect to take all the points from the first two matches and carry the momentum forward.