World Cup 2019: Google dedicates doodle to mark commencement of mega ICC event

The marquee event begins with hosts England taking on South Africa on Thursday at the Kennington Oval in London

Search giant Google, on Thursday, dedicated a doodle to acknowledge the commencement of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The top 10 cricketing nations will contest with each other in a 46-day long tournament which will host its final on July 14. The marquee event begins with hosts England taking on South Africa on Thursday at the Kennington Oval in London. The Englishmen are the hot favourites to win the coveted cup this year. With explosive batsmen like Jason Roy, captain Eoin Morgan and Jos Butler, the hosts are fancying their chances of winning the title. At the same time, India are also among the top contenders of the tournament. With a promising batting line including skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and MS Dhoni, the men-in-blue will look to exploit the batting friendly pitches in England. Jasprit Bumrah-led bowling attack has shown a lot of promise as well, but it is the middle order that might concern the men in blue. Defending champions Australia have got a major boost with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner. In this edition, the format has been changed as with each team requiring to play other nine teams in the group stages.  The top four will qualify for the semifinals.