ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Ranking the Middle Orders of the 10 Teams
2019 is upon us and this year will host the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 which is the most awaited cricketing tournament. The tournament is to be held in a round-robin format where each team plays the other nine teams once and the top four teams will make it to the semi-finals while the rest will be eliminated. The challenging format of the tournament asks a lot from teams. Consistency and fitness will be key for all the teams in both batting and bowling.
The middle order of teams is of key importance in a tournament like the World Cup as this provides something for the top order batsmen to lean on.
In this segment, we will rank the middle order of all the 10 teams.
Note: Players who bat from positions No.4,5,6 & 7 have been considered as middle order.
#10- Afghanistan
Expected Middle Order: Hasmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran
Afghanistan is clearly the batting weaklings of the tournament with most of their hope resting on their twin spinners in Rashid and Mujeeb. They might throw a surprise or two but their middle-order is clearly the weakest.
Hasmatullah Shahidi is expected to be the anchor of their batting lineup taking up No.4 Position. Skipper Asghar Afghan is expected to come in next followed by Nabi and Zadran.
Though these batsmen have scored runs in the Asia Cup and against teams like Ireland, they must know that the World Cup is on a totally different level. Sure, they can shine against all the odds and prove everyone wrong. However, based on stats, Afghanistan's middle order looks the weakest on paper.