ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will kick start from May 30th with the clash between host England and South Africa. The format of the tournament this year has been kept the same as that of 1992. And how can we forget how special that year was for us.
In the history of cricket, the first One-Day International match was played in Melbourne on January 5th, 1971 between one of the most debatable rivalries England and Australia. An interesting fact about this match was that the innings consists of 40 overs respectively, where each bowler had to bowl 8 balls per over.
Four years later in 1975, England hosted the first ever cricket World Cup tournament where every match was played for a total of 120 overs (60 overs per inning). Including Pakistan and India, 8 teams were made a part of this tournament. All the eight teams wore white kits during the matches.
During the tournament, West Indies and Australia were able to make into the final. West Indies hit the top gear against Australia and crowned themselves with the title of the first ever Cricket World Cup Champions by defeating the Kangaroos with a margin of 17 runs.
Australia has the honor of becoming the most successful team in the history of One-Day International cricket by winning the title of World Cup Champions five times. However, West Indies and India are following the ladder by becoming World Champions twice whereas, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, both have been able to achieve this honor once.
Pakistan has played a huge number of 71 One-Day International games in the history of World Cup till date. Out of which, the Green shirts have won a majority of 40 games and lost 29 against its opponents. Two matches were called off with no result.
Pakistan won the title of 1992 Cricket World Cup Champions under the captaincy of Imran Khan after knocking off England in the final match by 22 runs. The final match was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Australia and New Zealand mutually hosted the last played ICC Cricket World Cup in the year 2015 and both of the host teams qualified to play against each other in the final. During the final of the tournament, Australia was able to prevail over New Zealand with a one-sided match, having a death-bowling lineup demolishing the Kiwis batsmen within 45 overs and achieving the target of 183 with 7 wickets in hand.
Australia - World Cricket Champions 2015 Photo: File
According to the policies of International Cricket Council, after every four years, the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament is organized and this time, England has the honors of hosting the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, where the 10 best teams from all over the world will be taking part.
All of the security arrangements, SOPs, and policies have already been finally structured to achieve efficiency and to avoid any sort of mishap during the tournament.
Pakistan will officially start its World Cup campaign from May 31 by playing against West Indies, who have already crowned themselves with the title of World Champions twice.
Pak-India Rivalry
Pakistan and India are the most historic rivalries and the clashes between them are no less than a war on a battlefield. And if the battleground is a World Cup game, no one can describe the passion and emotional vibes of the followers. No matter where they play, the audience is always eager to watch their high-voltage matches with enthusiastic and passionate fans and followers on both sides.
In the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, Pakistan and India will gear up against each other on June 16th at the ground of Old Trafford, Manchester. The tickets for the match have already been sold and a full house is expected on the match day.
1992 World Cup Format
This year, ICC has kept the format of the World Cup same as that of 1992. A team has to play a match against other teams once. After finishing the league matches, the tournament will proceed towards the semi-finals and then the final.
The first semi-final of the World Cup will be played on July 9th at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester where the team with the highest points will compete against the fourth-ranked team of the standings table.
The second semi-final of the World Cup will be played on July 11th at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham where the second and the third-ranked teams of the points-table will face one another.
On July 14th at the ground of Lord’s, the winning teams of the first and the second semi-final will play a final game, putting in all efforts and dedication to get hands on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 trophy and become the World Champions 2019.