For the second tournament in a row the ICC Cricket World Cup will feature the same single group round-robin phase giving teams nowhere to hide.
The format doesn’t lend itself to promoting other nations into the upper echelons of ODI cricket but it does ensure that the teams that get into the semi-finals really have to earn it.
In 2019, Pakistan missed out of the last four despite suffering just three losses in nine round-robin matches.
Although the weather played its part with four matches in total rained off, the extended group phase meant that team would have their chances to overcome any rain-related issues.
The Proteas performance in England four years ago was underwhelming and they never really looked like contenders for a place in the last four.
Even the likes of Bangladesh and the West Indies stayed in the running longer than South Africa who started with a catastrophic loss to the Tigers.
They missed a golden chance to get themselves right back in the running when they took on a relatively undercooked India but just couldn’t finish the job.
The likelihood is that the tournament favourites, India, England, Australia and Pakistan won’t give up too many defeats, especially against the teams whose form has been up and down in the format.
In 2023 the event will be the first men’s Cricket World Cup to be hosted solely by India, with the country previously co-hosting the 1987, 1996, and 2011 tournaments with other countries on the Indian subcontinent.
India are likely to use a great many venues to take the tournament as far and wide across the nation as they can but this is likely to add to the element of difficulty of building form and getting into the habit of winning.
The 2023 World Cup will prove the ultimate test of ODI credentials but the likelihood is that India, England or Australia will be crowned champions when all is said and done given their depth, quality and levels of professionalism.
