7 upcoming superstars who can take the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup by storm
The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup will run from May 31- July 14, 2019. A host of superstars from ten countries will battle it out for the game's ultimate prize.
While some legendary players like India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be playing their fourth ICC Cricket World Cup, for the young and exciting players who burst onto the International scene 2-3 years ago it will be the first ever World Cup.
These young players have made major contributions to their sides in the past few years and will be looking to make a mark in the biggest stage of all next summer.
Some of these players have topped the bowling charts with their exceptional display with the ball. Let us now look five upcoming cricketers who will be crucial to their team's success at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup next summer.
Note: Only the players who were born on or after October 1993 and played less than 50 ODIs are considered in this list
#7 Hardik Pandya (India)
Hardik rose to prominence during Mumbai Indians' victorious 2015 Indian Premier League campaign and even the great Sachin Tendulkar was impressed with his all-round skills.
Hardik, who made his T20I debut against Australia in January 2016, played a crucial role in India's title win at the 2016 T20 Asia Cup in Bangladesh prior to the World T20.
Thanks to his exceptional performances in the IPL, he made it to the Indian team for the 2016 ICC World T20 where he played a crucial role in India's win over Bangladesh in a Super 10 fixture.
Though he had an otherwise forgettable run in that tournament, he was considered as one of the brightest limited-over prospects for Team India who were in pursuit of a fast-bowling all-rounder for quite a long time.
The Surat-born all-rounder made his ODI debut for Team India back in October 2016 against New Zealand, in which he was the Man of the Match for his exploits with the bat. He ended the year with four wickets and 45 runs to his name in four ODI matches.
After an exceptional show in the early part of 2017 especially in the IPL, he was named in the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in England.
Pandya made 105 runs in three innings at a strike-rate of 194.44 and also took four wickets in that tournament.
His valiant knock in the finals against Pakistan- 76(43) included four boundaries and six astonishing sixes. Unfortunately, his knock went into vain as he was not well supported by other Indian batsmen who fell cheaply chasing 339 for victory.
Pandya, who finished 2017 with 31 wickets in 28 matches, is now one of the vital members of India's 2019 World Cup squad. He will try to banish the memories of that fateful day with his all-round show next summer when takes the field wearing the blue jersey.
ODI stats: Matches- 38, Runs- 628, Average- 29.9, Wickets- 39, Best figures-3/31