The grounds are set.

Fans have chosen their sides.

The teams are all geared up.

The warm-up matches have given their results.

The 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup has now begun, that is, on Thursday (30th May). This 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup will run for almost one and a half month in England and Wales.

We will discuss some facts that you might not be aware of about the World Cup this year.

1. The World Cup is going to see only 10 nations competing.

As per the new mandate by ICC, the number of competing teams has been reduced to only 10. Also, not all full members of the league (Zimbabwe and Ireland) will be a part of the Cup. ICC has reduced the number of teams for better competition.

2. Increased Prize money and net value.

The ICC World Cup 2019 will witness extraordinary prize money to not only the winning team but also the runner up. The winning team will receive USD 4 million. The other team playing the finals will take back home an amount of USD 2 million.

There is also an incentive for teams winning all the league matches. The World Cup has a total net worth of USD 10 million. It is the highest amount spent on the World Cup so far.

3. Cricket fans will hear goodbyes from some top-notch players this season.

Midst so much excitement and buzz, there will also be sad faces seeing their favourite cricketers retire this season. This is going to be the final World Cup for some great players. According to sources, Mahendra Singh Dhoni- the ex-captain of the Indian team, a great batsman and wicket keeper, Chris Gayle from West Indies Known for his thunderous batting, Ross Taylor of New Zealand, the team’s best batsman, Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka famous for his unique bowling techniques and wicket-taking ability are some of the predicted players declaring their retirement.

4. The Round Robin format of the tournament.

The format of ICC World Cup 2019 is Round Robin. Each team is going to face the other nine teams in turns. The elimination procedure will be held on the basis of the number of matches lost. The top four teams winning the highest number matches in the league will fight the semi-finals. The winning teams will play the finals on July 14 at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

5. The theme song for the World Cup

The cricket World Cup 2019 has a theme song, ‘Stand By’ attached to it. The song is sung by Loryn depicting the UK culture. The song totally complements the great battle.

6. Sponsors for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Nissan is the official ICC cricket world cup sponsor until 2023. Also, Vivo manages to clinch the global sponsorship for ICC events.

7. No quarterfinal matches this season.

This season of ICC World Cup 2019, follows the round robin league technique. Therefore, there will not be any quarterfinal matches. The top 4 teams directly enter the semi-finals and fight to reach to the final match. The remaining 6 teams will be eliminated straight away.

8. West Indies failed to qualify directly.

For the first time in World Cup history, West Indies fails to qualify directly to the league teams. This was because of the minimised number of qualifying teams. However, the Windies team fought their way to the tournament via the qualifier matches.

9. The 100-days trophy world tour

2019 did witness the longest trophy travel. Also, the trophy traveled the maximum distance until this year. The trophy visited Oman, The USA, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Germany, France, South Africa, Australia, France, Netherlands and Belgium. It finally pitched itself at England and Wales on February 19th, 2019.

10. Some unbroken/created records of ICC Cricket World Cup.

• England and Wales become the hosts of the tournament for the 5th time. It makes England the host for the highest number of times.
• Initially, the World Cup matches consisted of 60 overs. Later, the number of overs was reduced to 50 per half.
• Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar holds the record of being the only player scoring 2000+ in World Cup matches. Sachin Tendulkar scored a total of 2278 runs in his world cup career.
• The position of the highest number of wickets (71), has been secured by Glenn McGrath.
• Trophy specifications: Height- 650mm, Weight- 11kgs
• The only ever 100 mph ball was bowled by Shoaib Akhtar to Nick Knight. No fast bowler ever reached to that speed until now.
• India is the only team to win all the three at least once- the 20 overs, the 50 overs and the 60 overs World Cup matches.

The World Cup has begun and is trending across the globe. Visit us for the latest updates on the ICC world Cup 2019.