World Cup 2019: England holds the edge in batting but will India's bowling prove to be the difference?
Coming into the Cricket World Cup, it does seem that England hold all the aces. They've just whitewashed Pakistan in the recently concluded ODI series. They've had an edge over all the teams that have played against them in the recent past. They've beaten Australia convincingly. They've taken out India as well as New Zealand. Other teams have not been able to do much either.
What works for them is the team combination and to add to it the conditions in which the World Cup is going to be played. The pitches are as flat as it could get in any part of the world. These pitches, however, stay true for the complete haul. Moreover, England currently boasts of the most aggressive and consistent batting lineup in the world.
The Three Lions have smashed around every lineup that exists in the world. Their strategy when it comes to approaching any ODI? Bat the opposition out of the match by burying them under a mountain of runs and if batting second then back yourself to even chase down scores of around 350 (something they did with ease against Pakistan). Looking at their firepower and their form, it is very tough to predict anyone but them having a firm grip on the World Cup before it has even begun.
India though might have a couple of aces up their sleeves against England when the two teams face-off. England might have the best batting lineup in the tournament but India has the best bowling lineup with Bumrah, Kuldeep, and Chahal easily some of the best bowlers in the world right now. The biggest trump card for India is the spin twins. With the World Cup going on for a long duration, there is going to be some wear and tear on the pitches which could slow them down a bit and play it into the hands of the Indian bowlers.
The last time the two teams met in England, England won the ODI series 2-1 but not before collapsing against the spin bowling of Kuldeep Yadav twice (once in T20Is and then in ODIs). And it was a series in which neither Bhuvneshwar Kumar nor Bumrah nor Shami featured.
Looking at England though, it's not tough to see why they are the favorites this year, but if India does enter the knockouts against them it could go either way. By the looks of it, the World Cup could be decided by how the English batting fares against the Indian bowling and whoever prevails in that battle might just take the cup.
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