ICC World Cup 2019 | Justin Langer picks England as favourites for the title
Getty
With the quadrennial event just around the corner, Australian coach Justin Langer has picked England as the favourite team to win the coveted title. England have been on a roll in recent times on the back of their explosive batting and are in red hot form going into the World Cup.
England conquered the ODI series against Pakistan and gave a testament to their supremacy in this format. They are in red-hot form at the moment and the players have peaked just at the right time. Since the last World Cup, England have developed into a formidable unit and inspire confidence as a team. Australian coach Justin Langer has picked England as the frontrunner for the title.
“They’re playing brilliant cricket, aren’t they? They’re obviously the red-hot favourites for the tournament, they’re playing here in their home country, they’re playing brilliantly, they deserve to be the number one team in the world. So we’re looking forward to playing them. There’s always good rivalry between us and it’s going to be nice for us to see how we’re at against the best team in the world,” Langer said, reported cricket.com.au.
England have the best batting line-up in the tournament, they have incredible depth and attacking players, who have proved their worth with emphatic performances. Langer believes that Australia need to back their strategy and give their best while competing against teams like England and India.
“We’ve been hearing it for 12 months. We’ve shown if we stick to our formula then we’ll have some success. It’s as simple as that. And when it comes to playing India and England, we’re just going to have to compete harder and be ready for them,” he added.
The conditions in England are batting-friendly and the recently-concluded series between the hosts and Pakistan was an indication to it. One can expect the World Cup to be a high-scoring one and Langer is confident that Australia need to stick to their game plan in order to post big totals.
“In terms of scores, a lot will have to do with the grounds we play on, the conditions, whether we’re chasing or setting, all those sorts of things. But we’re really clear on the game plan. We showed in India and (against Pakistan) that, if we stick to it, we’ll score big enough scores to win games of cricket,” Langer added.
