Pool A - England, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland.
Pool B - India, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Squads:
India: The 15-member squad that will defend the World Cup for India is an intimidating one to say the least. Led by one of the finest ODI captains in the game, they have the batting firepower to support a relatively weak bowling attack. Unlike most Indian sides of the past, this one is also among the top fielding units in the world. The defending champs enter the tournament as one of the favourites.
MS Dhoni (c & wk), Virat Kohli (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Akshar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.
Australia: Michael Clarke (c), George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson
West Indies: The West Indies’ biggest strength in recent times has been the pinch-hitters in their squad who have also done well as all-rounders.
Jason Holder (c), Marlon Samuels (vc), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka have the right mix of youth and experience in their squad. They are lead by the energetic and clever Angelo Mathews, who has had great success captaining the side in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
Angelo Mathews (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Sachitra Senanayake, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Lasith Malinga (subject to fitness)
New Zealand: The Kiwis are a very well-rounded side; they have batsmen who can dig deep and play long innings as well as those who can score 36-ball hundreds, fielders who can pluck the ball out of thin air, bowlers who can swing and spin the ball, and even one who can crank it up to over 150kmph.
Brendon McCullum (c), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson.
South Africa: South Africa have a great unit prepared for the mega-event, and should face little difficulty in progressing through the stages if they click as a team.
AB de Villiers (c), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (w), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn.
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.
Pakistan: The team selected by Pakistan for the World Cup is one with a lot of promise. The batting has a good mix of flair and reliability, while the bowling is promising as always
Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil, Sohaib Maqsood, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz.
Ireland: The tag of “Giant Killers” defines the strongest associate nation in the event appropriately. Since beating Pakistan in the ICC World Cup 2007, they enhanced their reputation further when they devoured neighbours England in the 2011 World Cup.
William Porterfield (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andy McBrine, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien (wk), Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.
Bangladesh: The Mashrafe Mortaza-led team has a couple of surprises. Inexperience cricketers like all-rounder Soumya Sarkar and and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam have found place in the squad while the veteran, Abdur Razzak has been axed.
Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riaz, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Arafat Sunny.
Zimbabwe: Given their horrid performances in 2014, the African nation is not likely to go through to the later stages, but will look to put up a respectable performance and try to pull off an upset or two.
Elton Chigumbura (c), Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.
Afghanistan: Afghanistan will be making their first-ever World Cup appearance in the tournament. The rise of the Afghan team in world cricket in recent years is a tale fit for an inspirational sports film. Afghanistan have it in them to surprise the biggest of teams in the mega-event, and propel themselves in their growth as a sporting nation.
Mohammad Nabi (c), Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, Afsar Zazai (wk), Najibullah Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Mirwais Ashraf, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Javed Ahmadi, Usman Ghani
UAE: Though not one of the favourites, UAE may turn out to be giant killers on their day.
Mohammed Tauqir (c), Khurram Khan (vc), Andri Berenger, Krishna Karate, Saqlain Haider (wk), Shaiman Anwar, Swapnil Patil, Rohan Mustafa, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Fahad Al Hashmi, Amjad Ali, Muhammad Naveed, Amjad Javed, Nasir Aziz.
Scotland: Scotland go into the ICC World Cup 2015 hoping to cause a few upsets. While it is likely that they might end their campaign without a single win yet again, they do possess a set of good players.
Preston Mommsen (c), Kyle Coetzer, Richie Berrington, Frederick Coleman, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Hamish Gardiner, Majid Haq, Michael Leask, Matt Machan, Calum MacLeod, Safyaan Sharif, Robert Taylor, Iain Wardlaw.
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