Cricket World Cup 2023: Essential Betting Guide

Believe it or not it has been four years since the last World Cup. England defeating New Zealand in a Super Over, “the barest of all margins” and all that. 

Starting today, with a repeat of the final from fours years ago, the tournament will run until November 19. The ten teams will play each other once in a round robin format before the top four teams go through to the semi finals.

So, who should your money be on?

India - 3

The hosts are the favourites to win the tournament and with the last three World Cups being won by the home team it is hard to look past them.

India are a cricketing powerhouse but a lack of major silverware in recent years has left a bitter taste. The last tournament they won was the 2011 World Cup (played in India). The weight of a nation is on their shoulders every time they play. 

They are incredibly impressive with both bat and ball. Their batting line-up is crammed full of star names, getting the blend of youth and experience has to be done right though - not something India have managed successfully in the past. Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav all look ready to take the world by storm and with experienced skipper Rohit Sharma opening the batting and the insurmountable Virat Kohli - the only player left from the 2011 win - at number three, this is the tournament’s strongest batting line up.

Jasprit Bumrah’s return to fitness has given their bowling department a lift alongside him is an impressive array of seamers and spinning options. Including the fantastic Kuldeep Yadav. If they can stay on top of the pressure and expectations of billions of people then they should be able to come out on top.

England - 4.7

The reigning champions take up the second favourite slot going into the tournament. England have been the best side in limited overs cricket since 2015 and you certainly can’t rule out them going back-to-back here. 

England’s team and squad has a very similar look to the one that triumphed four years ago and hence has experience in bucket loads. In skipper Jos Buttler, they have the most destructive batter in white-ball cricket and in Ben Stokes a man who seems capable of the seemingly impossible.

India may have the strongest batting line up, but England have the most powerful. Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook along with Stokes and Buttler is enough to give any opposition captain nightmares.

England’s weakness is their bowling with only one genuine world class spin option and a pace attack that can lack control at times. If they are to fall down anywhere this is it.

Over the past four years, England have played very little 50 over cricket, but did win the T20 World Cup in Australia last year. This is a team who knows how to win tournaments. 

Australia - 5.6

Five-times-tournament winners Australia can never be counted out. The Australian’s preparation has been plagued by injuries and therefore haven’t been able to develop a settled side.

They were without Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins for their recent tour of South Africa all of which when fit will form the backbone of the team. Cummins, also Test captain, will be leading the team in their pursuit of a record sixth World Cup. 

Smith is not only one of the best batters in the world, he is also a very good player in Asia averaging 43.66. Along with David Warner, Maxwell and Alex Carey they have a fairly strong batting line-up. My concern is that they don’t have the power to post the big scores needed to win a tournament.

The Australian fast bowling department is well stocked with Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Adam Zampa provides a very strong spin option and they have two excellent all-rounders in Cameron Green and Mitch Marsh.

South Africa - 9.6

Having just beaten Australia 3-2, this South African team go into this tournament high on confidence. Their batting line-up is led by skipper Temba Bavuma and supported by the experienced heads of Aidan Markram, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen. The star man however is opening batter and wicketkeeper Quinton De Kock. De Kock has been one of the best openers in white-ball cricket since he came on the scene in 2013. He recently announced that he will be retiring from one-day cricket after the tournament.

Spearheaded by Kagiso Rabada, they have a strong fast bowling contingent and two quality spinners in Keshav Maharaj and Mohammed Shamsi. They are a team packed full of IPL experience which will definitely be an advantage.

South Africa have always been the nearly men of world cups, always promising a lot but never even reaching a final. They have had much better teams than this and achieved very little, but there is value to be found here. 

Pakistan - 9.8

India’s close neighbours have been quietly building momentum in limited overs cricket over the past few years. They were defeated by England in last year’s T20 World Cup final.

They have the tournament’s best fast-bowling attack with Shaheen Afridi, Harris Rauf and Naseem Shah all capable of bowling at the speed of light and smashing through the opposition top order. 

In the batting department they have Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan. Babar is the poster boy of Pakistan cricket and, with an average of 58, he is in the conversation for being the best white-ball batter in the world. His regular partner in crime Rizwan is no slouch either. Pakistan’s main problem stems from the lack of runs around these two. 

As a team they have a tendency to be very mercurial and can blow hot or cold. This is why they’re priced at 9.8.

Verdict

India are the favourites for a very good reason and it is hard to look past them. If you want to play it safe then, back India. If you are looking for value my attention would be drawn to Pakistan at 9.8.

Who will be the leading run scorer?

Shubman Gill - 6.8

The 24-year old lit up this year’s IPL scoring the most runs in the competition with a series of destructive batting displays. Gill opens the batting for India with captain Rohit Sharma. The right-handed batter has scored 1,917 ODI runs at an average of 66.07, making six hundreds along the way. Gill’s average is the second highest of all-time in ODI cricket. He looks ready to stamp his authority on a major tournament and make himself a legend in India.

Babar Azam - 6.8

Babar Azam is the darling of Pakistan cricket. A beautiful player that oozes class, he is a pleasure to watch. In 108 ODI matches he has scored 5,409 runs at an average of 58.16, making 19 hundreds. Babar is the key man in the Pakistan batting line-up, they will struggle to do anything serious in this tournament without his runs. 

Virat Kohli - 8.4

Over the last decade Virat Kohli has been the best white-ball batter in the world. He is already an all-time great of this format, but a tournament win will truly cement his place among the cricket gods. Kohli wasn’t a key player when India won in 2011, but now he is their main man. He has the most runs of any active player in 50 over cricket with 13,083 and trails only Sachin Tendulkar in hundreds with 47. He has also proven himself to be a clutch performer, most recently against Pakistan at last year’s T20 World Cup with a breath-taking 83* to see his team home. 

Rohit Sharma - 10

The fact that Rohit Sharma is the third Indian batter in the top four gives you an idea as to the strength of their batting line-up. Rohit will be opening the batting with Gill and Kohli will be coming in at number 3 - so not a bad start. Rohit is also a legend of the format, of the ten ODI double hundreds that have been made he has scored three of them and he also has the highest scorer ever with 264. He only trails Kohli and Tendulkar in hundreds made in the format with 30. He was also the leading run-scorer in the last World Cup scoring five hundreds in the process. 

Steve Smith - 12.5

The Australian is my outside pick. It seems strange to call one of the greatest batters of the century an outside pick but here we are. Smith is a fine player of spin who has plenty of experience in Indian conditions in both white and red-ball cricket. He averages 42.33 in ODI cricket in India. Smith was a key part in Australia’s 2015 World Cup win and his experience will be vital if Australia are going to do well in this tournament. 

Verdict

I am going to stick with my good feeling about Pakistan and back joint-favourite Babar Azam to do the business at 6.8. At 28, he is in his absolute prime.

Who is going to be the leading wicket-taker?

Jasprit Bumrah - 6.0

Jasprit Bumrah has returned from injury just in time to spearhead India’s bowling attack. The unorthodox seamer is one of the best fast bowlers in the world especially in white-ball cricket. Despite having the shortest odds, I would be nervous about backing a player who has just come back from a long-term injury for the leading wicket-taker prize. I also think that given the length of the tournament, India are more than likely to rest Bumrah in some of the group games.

Mitchell Starc - 8.0

I am surprised that the favourites to win this are so dominated by seam bowlers when Indian pitches are known to favour spin. Four years ago, Starc took the most wickets ever in a World Cup with 27. He has been a consistent performer for Australia since making his ODI debut in 2010 and at 33, this will be his last World Cup. He was the fastest bowler to both 150 wickets and to 200 wickets. I struggle to see him taking home the leading wicket taker this time out. 

Kuldeep Yadav - 8.0

The Indian left-arm leg spinner presents batters with a unique challenge. Having seen initial success when he came into the international team in 2017, he then struggled to nail a place in the side down for a few years. He has since reworked his style and has been on fire. In last month’s Asia Cup, he took four wickets against Sri Lanka and then five for 25 against Pakistan. Kuldeep also finds himself tenth in the world rankings at the moment. He is likely to play a lot of India’s games and on-spinning pitches he will take a lot of wickets. 

Shaheen Afridi - 8.4

Shaheen Afridi is the best white-ball bowler in the opening overs. His lightning quick left arm pace has ripped through top orders on many occasions in the last few years. He is the leader of Pakistan’s three-pronged pace attack and like Babar will be vitally important if they are to do well. He was the eighth fastest bowler to 50 ODI wickets and he also has one of the best strike rates in the history of ODI cricket. He is likely to bowl his ten overs in all of Pakistan’s games making him a decent choice.

Adam Zampa - 15

Not sure how I have managed this, but I am backing another Aussie as my outsider pick. Zampa is a really strong leg-spinner and most importantly the only specialist one in the Australian team. In ODI cricket it has become essential to have a spinner who can turn the ball both ways and Zampa fills that role for the Aussies. Because of this he is very likely to bowl his allotted overs in their games giving him the maximum wicket-taking opportunities. 

Verdict

The price for Adam Zampa at 15 is something I am struggling to ignore and I do think Australia have the ability to get into the semis or even finals. The fact they are so reliant on his leg spin is the real clincher.