Cricket's most prestigious event returns to Trans-Tasman territory for the first time since 1992.
How was the ODI format born?
Rain washed off the first three days of the Ashes Test match between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The officials then decided to abandon the match and instead agreed to play a 40 eight-ball-over per side match on last day of the Test match thus the One-Day International format was born on January 5,1971.Although the birth of Twenty20 cricket has diminished the image of One-Day-International (ODI) cricket of late, the World Cup is still one of the most-awaited tournaments for an avid cricket fan.
How did the idea of a Cricket World Cup evolve?
Limited-overs cricket began to gain popularity in the early 1960s when a number of English countries showed interest to adopt the shortened version of the game, that ended in a day. Spectators welcomed the One-Day format and soon many organisations started to stage a number of tournaments. The Internationals Cricket Conference, cricket governing body then, took note of One-Day cricket's growing reputation and came up with Ideas of staging in a Cricket World Cup and announced that England would host the first-ever Cricket World Cup in 1975.Since its inception, the World Cup has produced many memorable moments and this time too it promises to be a humdinger.
World Cup Winners
1975- West Indies1979- West Indies
1983- India
1987- Australia
1992- Pakistan
1996- Sri lanka
1999- Australia
2003- Australia
2007- Australia
2011- India
Why is the tournament being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand?
In 2006, Australia and New Zealand placed their placed their bids to ICC's executive committee, after expressing their willingness to host the 2011 World Cup. However, Asia (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) was awarded the tournament after winning by a margin of 7 votes to 4. The ICC then announced that the next edition (2015) would be awarded to Australia and New Zealand.How different is the Tournament to the 2011 edition?
You could see the World Cup being shared for the first time ever! Yes, you read that right Interestingly, the ICC has revealed that the trophy would be shared, if the final ends in a tie. During the 2011 edition, if a game ended in a tie during the knockout phase, there was a provision to use the One-Over Eliminator (Super Over) to decide the winner. However, this time around, the ICC has made it clear that it would not employ the Super Over rule for tied matches during the quatar-finals and the semi-final stages. Instead, the side finishing higher in the group stage will progress to the next round.
TV viewers finishun will be able to hear the conversation between the on-field umpire and the third umpire whenever the Decision Review System (DRS) is employed. It is the latest addition to the DRS by the ICC to give more transparency into decision making and will help viewers know the different aspects taken into consideration while making a decision.
Only 15 overs of field restrictions will apply, which is five overs lesser than the 2011 World Cup. However, this time, only four fielders wil be allowed outside the circle during non-powerplays overs, which is one lesser than the previous edition.
Four years ago, there was a mandatory ball change after 34 overs of an innings. However. the ICC has Scraped the idea now and has announced that two new balls, one from each end, will be used during an innings.
The ICC has increased the prize money by 20% from the previous edition. The winners prize money has been set as USD 3,975,000. If the team remains unbeaten in the group stage, the prize money would be added by USD 45,000, meaning that the total amount would be USD 4,245,000.
While the number of participants (14) remains the same as previous World Cup, Afghanisthan, United Arab Emirates and Scotland will replace Canada, Kenya and Netherlands from the 2011 World Cup.
Format
14 teams, spilt into pools of seven each, will play 42 games in the group stage, with each team playing each other once in their respective pools. The top four teams from eacg pool will make it to the quater-finals, from which four teams will be filtered to from the semi-finals line up. Two winners then qualify for the final.
Participants
The 10 full members of the ICC qualify automatically, while the top two teams of the 2011-13 World Cricket League (Ireland, Afghanistan) and the finalists of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier (Scotland, United Arab Emirates) from the 14-member contention.
Pool A Pool B
England South Africa
Australia India
Sri Lanka Pakistan
Bangladesh West Indies
New Zealand Zimbabwe
Afghanistan Ireland
Scotland United Arab Emirates
How the top 10 teams were pooled?
It was according to the ICC ODI Championship rankings, as of 31 December 2012, that the top 10 full member nations were pooled into two groups. The team was ranked 1 (England) and 4 (Australia) went into Pool A, while teams 2 (South Africa) and 3 (India) went into Pool B. Teams 5 (Sri Lanka) and 8 (Bangladesh) were grouped in Pool A and teams 6 (pakistan) and 7 (West Indies) in Pool B. Teams 9 (New Zealand) and 10 (Zimbabwe) joined Pool A and Pool B respectively.
Did you know?
After the 2011 World Cup, the ICC announced that the 2015 World Cup would be contested only among the 10 full member nations. This meant that the associate nations would be not to be eligible to participate and it drew heavy criticism, especially from Ireland, who fared decently in 2007 and 2011. The ICC then reverted back to the 14-team format followed for the 2011 World Cup.
Venues
Totally 14 grounds, 7 from Australia (Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobrat, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland, Christchruch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington) will host the World Cup. The final will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Out of the 49 matches, 26 will be hosted by Australia.Who are the favourites?
India- Despite the absence of their key players from the 2011 World Cup squad, the defending champions have managed to piece together a formidable unit. Virat Kholi has grown in stature since the last edition of the World Cup and is breaking many records. Captain MS Dhoni has been as cool as ever and his role in the middle-order has been key to India's success. Bhuvmeshwar Kumr has proved the world that fat-bowling is not all about muscles. Mohammad Shami's accuracy has earned him the highest wicket-taker tag in 0DIs in 2014 and he plays a big role for the side with the ball. So overall, if the batting line-up clicks as a unit and the bowlers hold their nerve at the death, India are a tough side to beat on their day.South Africa- Surely, if you have the names, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, then you have one of the strongest batting line-up, if not the strongest, in the entire tournament. Moving focus to the bowling department, Dale Steyn superheads the attacks, while Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander from an integral part Boy! This has to be team on the paper. Give them the Cup! Oh hang on! Time and time again, the Proteas bring a strong to World Cups, but...
Australia- Home conditions give Australia a big chance to lift their fifth title. Although George Bailey has showed that he's a good enough leader, a fully-fit Michael Clarke would be vital to Australia's success. While David Warner's presence at the top-order comes as a plus, Shane Watson's role as an all-rounder is pivotal to the side. Glenn Maxwell has earned himself a reputation of being a game-changer, irrespective of the match situation. Mitchell Johnson's thunderbolts would be a batsman's nightmare on those bouncy pitches. All this forces one to rate the co-hosts highly.
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