2019 World Cup structure
Flickr photo by Sabbir Ahmed shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.

Does the 2019 Cricket World Cup structure make sense?

Qasim Mujtaba Naqvi·
One Day International (ODI)
·0 Comments·

We take a look at why the format adopted for the 2019 (and 1992) Cricket World Cup is ideal for the sport’s premier tournament…

Amidst a number of experimental formats, the ICC has chosen to revert to the structure used in 1992 for the 2019 World Cup. This involves every team playing each other once and the eventual top four progressing to the semi-final stage. Such an initiative would help globalise the game – but it could potentially sacrifice competitiveness and make the game less enjoyable for neutrals.

The Pakistan vs. England group stage encounter should serve as the perfect example of why the inclusion of more teams doesn’t necessarily benefit the tournament. It’s understandable that some have found the World Cup underwhelming thus far, but the manner in which Pakistan staged their comeback against the host nation is a rarity in the cricketing world. Teams deserve the chance to display such resurgence in the latter stages of the competition.

The FIFA World Cup, which is the hallmark of global sporting tournaments, includes so many countries because it’s already played worldwide. However, the group stage isn’t exactly watched by everyone. Big games are the ones people look forward to and a sense of competitiveness is more apparent in continental tournaments like the UEFA European Championship due to greater quality scattered across a smaller sample size. It also doesn’t provide teams with the kind of margin for error that’s conducive to the sport. You can substitute a player in football – but once you name a cricketer in the playing XI, you have to stick with him till the end of the game.

Football as a sport has championed one-off tactical masterclasses more than cricket as. In the latter’s case, the chances of a single master-stroke propelling a team to victory are far slimmer. Marking Eden Hazard out of the game was brilliant thinking by José Mourinho given that the Belgian midfielder was essentially Chelsea’s centrepiece. On the other hand, planning and executing a plan to dislodge Virat Kohli won’t deal with MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya.

In fact, you’d need to send Rohit Sharma or Shikhar Dhawan back to the pavilion to even reach Kohli. The infrequent nature of such events makes the game all the more challenging. Sure, it happens. It happened just a few days ago when Pakistan’s batting collapsed against the West Indies. Even so, the differences between both sports strip most comparisons of their credibility.

Similarly, a one-sided game in cricket can still last for almost three hours in ODIs – and it’s no fun watching a side chase down 150 in 50 overs if the bowlers aren’t threatening. When it comes to football, an utterly dominant performance from one side can still be fun to watch for 90 minutes. Extend that duration and perhaps people will lose interest there too.

Keeping all that in mind, ICC’s 2019 World Cup structure is perfect. It ensures teams have enough wiggle room to compete – and comparisons with a truly global sport like football should be avoided. Despite the tournament being over a month long, practically every game could swing both ways. And if a team underperforms, the responsibility falls on them and not cricket’s governing body. As harsh as all this is on the teams that failed to qualify, the current set-up pits the best against the best – and that’s what a World Cup should be.