5 Batsmen to watch out for at the Cricket World Cup
After months of build-up, we are just a week away from the start of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen a lot of debate about the squads that some sides have selected. India made headlines by leaving out youngster Rishabh Pant, while for England, Jofra Archer has come into the squad having made just three ODI appearances since becoming eligible to play for England in March.
A lot will be riding on batsmen at the World Cup, especially with some of the pitches in England. We have seen with the recent series against Pakistan that English pitches are excellent for batting, with England hitting scores over 350 on four consecutive occasions, becoming the first side to do so in ODIs.
There is a chance that the pitches may slow up as the tournament goes on, but at least in the opening weeks, they will certainly give the batsman chances to get big totals. One-day cricket has changed so much in the last four years, that we no longer see 300 as a good score.
We know that the likes of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root are all capable of scoring runs against the best, and no doubt all three will get big runs at the World Cup. But there are others who will have to stand up and be counted. Here are five batsmen to watch during the World Cup.
#1 Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)
West Indies have an array of limited over stars in their cricket World Cup squad - most notably, Chris Gayle, who is likely appearing in his final World Cup and is still renowned as one of the finest hitters in the game. Add to that the return of Andre Russell after a brilliant IPL, where he won the Most Valuable Player award after a serious of brilliant innings. They also have an impressive reserve list that includes the likes of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo.
But there are younger players coming through, and perhaps the most exciting of these is Nicholas Pooran. At this stage, Pooran has appeared just once in ODIs, getting out for a duck on debut against England. Yet he does have the talent to deliver on the world stage, and showed this during his time with the Kings XI Punjab during the IPL, scoring 151 runs in his final four innings at a strike rate of 173.56. He could have a big role to play during the tournament.