The aim of the teams with ambitions of lifting the 2019 World Cup trophy will be team consistency. However it will be a handful of influential players who have the sublime ability to inspire their team in moments of need who can have the biggest effect on the end result. If you're looking for examples of this sort of inspiration in past World Cups in the UK, think Clive Lloyd in 1975, Viv Richards in 1979, Kapil Dev in 1983, and Steve Waugh in 1999.
Who are the players most likely to provide their team with this sort of impetus in the chase for the 2019 trophy?
Top of the list has to be India's captain, Virat Kohli. He is the outstanding short-form batsman and he's on track to be deemed the greatest of all time. His technique is such that he scores quickly with less risk than others, predominantly keeping the ball on the ground and eschewing the fancy shots that increase a player's vulnerability.
Because Kohli relies on a traditional technique, he is better able to cope with the variable conditions faced during a lengthy tournament. Kohli, along with the heavy-scoring, six-hitting machine Rohit Sharma, will be a crucial part of India's bid for a second World Cup triumph in the UK.
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England's hopes of a first World Cup victory are based on a powerful batting line-up. They can post a target that is well out of reach by plundering the opposition bowling from the first over to the last. While England look for a fast start to their innings, the man who can put the target out of reach in a hurry is Jos Buttler.
Buttler possesses immense power in a wide range of shots, and his strike rate in the last couple of years even surpasses muscleman Chris Gayle. England need players like Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root to fire with the bat and Ben Stokes to be at his mercurial best, but if Buttler is on form, the opposition is in for some leather-hunting.
Mention of Stokes is a reminder that allrounders who possess batting power are crucial to teams performing well. Players to watch in this category, in addition to Stokes, are Quinton de Kock and Glenn Maxwell. And I wouldn't overlook Hardik Pandya, who has run into form at the right time; his chastening experience on a television chat show appears to have had a positive effect on his cricket.
Explosive openers have become a must in successful ODI sides, with Gayle and David Warner setting the standard. If Australia bat Warner anywhere but at the top of the order, it'll be welcomed by the opposition.
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Wicket-taking bowlers are like gold in an era of heavily muscled batsmen wielding weighty implements. Among the faster bowlers Jasprit Bumrah has excelled, with a combination of a good strike rate and a reasonable economy rate. Like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult, Bumrah's great value is the ability to strike early and late in an innings.
In an era where totals have increased markedly thanks to the six-hitting exploits of the batsmen, bowlers who can take wickets in the middle overs are a must to keep targets in check. India are fortunate to have a pair of wristspinners who combine neatly to bamboozle batsmen. If the pitches in the UK show signs of wear and tear late in the tournament, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will be of immense value to India.
Adil Rashid is another wristspinner who excels with the white ball, and his knowledge of local conditions will help England's cause. And if the feisty Afghanistan team is to make a mark in this tournament the ebullient Rashid Khan will be in the thick of things.
India have many of the individual ingredients required for success at the 2019 World Cup. However, so also do England and Australia, and winning the trophy will require an inspired individual performance timed to perfection.