While the 10 teams taking part in the 13th edition of the ODI World Cup acclimatize and prepare for the showcase, it’s time for us to take a breath and preview what’s coming. 

Let’s talk about each of the Cricket World Cup 2023 teams’ biggest strengths and weaknesses, and how they might win or lose the title. 

Cricket World Cup 2023: Strengths & weaknesses of each team

India

💪 Strengths:

On a good day൲, India is strong in every facet of the game. Their openers have adopted England’s 2019 blueprint and are moreꦉ attacking in the powerplay. They have the talents of Virat Kohli, who has an unmatched ODI record, at number three.

Their bowling is one of the tournament’s most potent in the PowerPlay. The combination of Jasprit Bumrah and ওMohammed Siraj makes India the best PowerPlay bowling team.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

They are not doing well at the death with both bat♊ and ball. Their batters fail to capitalize on the solid start by their openers and their bowlers struggle to take wickets at the death.



England 

💪 Strengths:

The defending champions are more attacking than anyone in the middle overs. This was one of the aspects that separated them from the rest in 2019 anไd might help dꦺo so this year. Also, like in 2019, they boast a deep batting lineup, which gives their attacking batters the license to play attacking shots.

Their bowling complements this effort by taking a lot of wickets in PowerP🤪lay.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

Their PowerPlay batting has lost its bite. They dropped Jason Roy because he had lost ꦯhis touch and replaced him with Dawid Malan. Malan isn’t as attacking. Their bowling hasn’t been taking wickets in the middle overs, which leaves them exposed at the death. And without Jofra Archer they were never a good death bowling team.

Pakistan 

💪 Strengths:

They don’🐠t lose many wickets in the PowerPlay and the middle overs. They have the third-highest average in the PowerPlay and score the second-most runs in the guts of the innings.&nbs🌊p;

Their bowlers are excellent at the death. They take♓ wickets and are difficult to score against in the last 10 overs.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

Th🐭ey score runs at a slow rate. They have the sixth-best strike rate in the PowerPlay and are fourth-best in the middle overs. This is a problem against Cricket World Cup 2023 teams with higher batting strike r🥂ates. And their middle-overs bowling has not been taking any wickets.



Australia 

💪 Strengths:

They dominate with the bat in the PowerPlay and are explosive in the last 10 overs. In both phases, they don’t lose wickets and score at a very high rate. Their new ball bowlers also do the all-iꦰmportant job of taking wickets in the PowerPlay. In addition to the skills of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazelwood, Austra🧔lia also has the talents of one of the best spinners in ODI cricket in the form of Adam Zampa.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

Their bowling is let down in the middle overs and gets worse at the deat𒆙h, where they neither take wickets nor prevent lots of runs. Mitch Starc needs to take a lot of wickets.

South Africa 

💪 Strengths:

South Africa has the highest average and joint-second highest strike rate in the middle overs. This sets them up for tไhe death 𓂃overs, where they are scoring more runs than anyone else at the highest strike rate among teams at the World Cup.

They have the best two-man spin attacks in non-As🍬ian tea𒁃ms and do a good job of controlling the middle overs.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

Their front-line bowlers do not take many wickets ❀in tꦺhe PowerPlay. Teams could take advantage of this. They also have a short batting lineup and in the event of a collapse, they won’t be able to score enough for their bowlers to defend.



New Zealand 

💪 Strengths:

They are an excellent PowerPlay bowling team. They are one of the top teams with the ball in the first 10 overs. They take wickets and do not concede many runs in the process. Their batting does ▨not shoot the lights out but does the basics well. Their runs and strike rate🐷 in the middle and death overs are good enough to cause problems.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

New Zealand is not doing well with the bat in the PowerPlay. They are far from where they need to be to be competitive in the first 10 overs. And they are also losing wickets there. And unless Lockie Ferguson gets his mojo back, they are going to lose a lot of matches i🧸n the middle overs where they are not taking enough wickets.

Sri Lanka 

💪 Strengths:

Their bowᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ��ᩚᩚᩚlers overperform. They are taking wickets in the PowerPlay and doing a good job of keeping things under control in the middle overs. The loss of Wanindu Hasaranga affects them a bit, but Dinuth Wellalage and Maheesha Theekshana are still a lethal combinatio𒊎n.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

Their batting isn’t good. Sri Lanka is losing wickets in the PowerPlay and they don’t score quick enough to make up for it. They are also failing to make up for that awful start in the middle overs, where they also lose wickets in clumps and do not score any faster.



Afghanistan 

💪 Strengths:

They have Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed and Mohammad Nabi. This spin attack is made for Indian conditions. They will dicta༺te things i⛦n the middle overs more often than not.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

Their batters are not scoring enough runs throughout the innings and they take 🌳a lot of time doing so. They also do not have quality seamers to take control of the PowerPlay.

Bangladesh 

💪 Strengths:

They do not leak runs in allℱ three phases of the game. Their bowlers are economical and this might lead to wickets in high-pressure s⛎ituations. 

🛠️ Weaknesses:

They undo most of the good work done by their bowlers with lacklustre batting. They h🥂ave one of the worst scoring strike rates in all phases and lose many wickets in the PowerPlay. This is not a go༒od picture.



Netherlands

💪 Strengths:

Their bow🤪lers do a great job at taking wickets and keeping runs down in the first 10 overs. Thiꦗs could cause problems for teams with shaky opening pairs.

They have Max O’Dowd opening the batting and Bas De Leede, Colin Ackerman and Roelof van der Merwe in th🍌e middle order. They also have a lot of heart. This collective is going to throw everything they have at their opponents and hope to come up with a positive result.

🛠️ Weaknesses:

No team at this year’s World Cup is 🅺worse suited to the conditions than the Dutch. They struggle to bat against spin and have no world-class spinners in their team.

Read more from Jarrod Kimber:



Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

  • Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
  • Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
  • Never chase their losses
  • Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry, or depressed

Read our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices.


Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to Cricket Times. 18+. T&Cs apply. 

About the Author:
With over 10 years of experience in the sports media industry, I am a passionate and versatile media entrepreneur and sports analyst. I also founded Good Areas, a network of podcasts, YouTube channels, and emailers that focus on how fans like sport, and that tell stories beyond the mainstream. You can follow Jarrod at Twitter (), Youtube (), Linkedin (), and Instagram ().