ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Are hosts always the favourites?

The 12^th ICC Cricket World Cup is already underway, with couple of lopsided affairs to begin with. The hosts England played the inaugural match against South Africa on May 30 and showed clear signs that they are a side to watch out for this World Cup. Eoin Morgan and co. humbled the Proteas by a thumping win.

England in their own backyard is twice as lethal as they could be otherwise. Being the hosts this time around, talks have already started that England are the favourites. But are hosts always the favourites? Here are some of the startling facts that will compel to rethink about this question.

Year	Hosts	Winner	Runner-Up
1975	England	West Indies	Australia
1979	England	West Indies	England
1983	England	India	West Indies
1987	India and Pakistan	Australia	England
1992	Australia and New Zealand	Pakistan	England
1996	India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	Australia
1999	England	Australia	Pakistan
2003	South Africa	Australia	India
2007	West Indies	Australia	Sri Lanka
2011	India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh	India	Sri Lanka
2015	Australia and New Zealand	Australia	New Zealand

It is evident that out of the 11 instances, only three times (1996, 2011, and 2015) the hosts have gone on to win the World Cup. Do you think England is still the favourite just because they are hosting the ICC event? Numbers don’t lie. Do they?

Moreover, England alongwith New Zealand and South Africa are the only three teams that have never won the World Cup.  Though England has made it to the finals three times but it was even before the start of this new century.

With a successful bilateral record since 2017, given the side’s strength under the able aegis of Eoin Morgan, mental toughness, batting firepower, and equally good bowling in the middle overs and at the death, England has a strong chance of making it to the finals this time around.

Hosting a mega event as World Cup comes with its own set of boon and bane. Boon is ofcourse the playing conditions are familiar to you, and the bane is the enormous expectations from the media and public to deliver. Will England take the boon in their stride and combat the bane? We will find it out only over the next one and a half month of extravaganza.

Source: Wikipedia