World Cup 2019: Will Be "Exceptionally Difficult" To Beat India, Feels ICC's David Richardson

As the Cricket World Cup 2019 draws near, the buzz surrounding it is getting higher. The mega-tournament begins on May 30 in England and Wales. ICC CEO David Richardson has picked India and England as the teams to beat in the World Cup. He also heaped praise on South Africa's recent performances. Richardson was present in India to unveil the World Cup trophy. The 2019 Cricket World Cup will be played in a round robin format like it was played in the 1992 World Cup where Pakistan emerged victorious.

"It is extremely difficult to pick a winner. Obviously, India is playing really well. England has got their best ODI team in many years. South Africa has also performed. But the progress the Indian team has made in the recent years, it will be exceptionally difficult to beat them," Richardson told reporters.

Richardson, the former South Africa wicket-keeper also spoke on other upcoming ICC tournaments: ICC T20 World Cup 2020, ICC Test Championship and the ICC Women's U-19 World Cup.

Elucidating on the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 that will be played in Australia where arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been placed in different groups, Richardson talked about the Snake Method, where teams are placed according to their ranks and play accordingly.

"We have arranged the groups in a way that has credibility and is based on the rankings. We have several techniques one of them is called the Snake Method. Teams are placed according to their ranks and play each other accordingly.

"In this case, Pakistan were number one in the rankings in their group and India number two. Obviously, everyone likes to see them play but to maintain the integrity and credibility of the groups we found no credible way of putting them in the same group.

"Hopefully from a world perspective they will meet each other in the semi-finals or final," Richardson added.

(With IANS inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Hardik Pandya MS Dhoni International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup 2019