India's Cricket World Cup Team Preview

 India will head into the tournament as a confident unit after an emphatic win over Bangladesh in the Warmup Game.

"Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lifts the World Cup after 28 years. The party has begun in the dressing room.” These are the exact lines Ravi Shastri had said when MS Dhoni hit Nuwan Kulasekara into the stands for a six to win the World Cup for India in 2011. These lines will always be cherished by billions of Indian fans and they would love vintage MS Dhoni to once again win the World Cup for India. This time around they have Virat Kohli, the number 1 ODI ranked batsman leading them in this World Cup. India on paper certainly has one of the strongest teams. India alongside the hosts, England will be mighty favourites to lift this covenant trophy. 

India walks into this World Cup 2019, with a team which is much stronger than the team they had in the 2015 World Cup. They have the number 1 and number 2 ranked ODI batsmen in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While the batting has always been the spotlight for India, this time around they head into this tournament with one of the strongest bowling units with the number 1 ranked ODI bowler, Jasprit Bumrah as the leader of the attack. But, what has been a revelation for them post the 2017 Champions trophy is the rise of the spin twins,  Kuldeep Yadav, and Yuzvendra Chahal. Both had contrasting IPL’s, with the former having his most forgetful one. Kuldeep could only manage 4 wickets from 9 matches while Chahal was very successful with the ball with 18 scalps in 14 matches.

But the biggest positive team India have gained out of the IPL is the form of Hardik Pandya. His ability to clear the boundary line very frequently has made him a force to reckon with. With the ball too he was quite impressive. He was able to provide crucial breakthroughs whenever the team needed it. But, how can anybody talk about the Indian cricket team without mentioning MS Dhoni? The greatest wicketkeeper of all time, and known for his unorthodox but mightily effective captaincy, MS brings a lot to the table. With the kind of form he showed against Bangladesh in the 2nd warm-up game, India will be thrilled to see his hitting form and will be a very confident unit heading into the World Cup. 

Probable Playing xi - 

Rohit Sharma(VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(C), Kl Rahul, MS Dhoni(wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

• India’s Top 3 form a very formidable pair. 3 of them together have scored more than 50% of India’s runs in the last 4 years(Highest among all teams).

• Kl Rahul notched up a spectacular century against Bangladesh and has probably booked the number 4 spot for the first game against South Africa.  

• The experience of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav are likely to take the 5th and 6th positions. If any niggles, then Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar will serve as replacements.

• Hardik Pandya will slot in at 7. He will have to play a big role in the World Cup if India has any chance of lifting the trophy.

• 3 of the bowlers self pick themselves into this Indian side with the kind of numbers they possess (K Yadav, Y Chahal, and J Bumrah). Mohammed Shami is likely to be given the nod ahead of Bhuvneshwar in the first match due to his ability to pick up wickets up front in the 1st powerplay. 

Interesting facts about the Indian Team - 

• India have been 2-time champions (1983 and 2011), 1-time losing finalist (2003) and 3-time losing semi-finalists (1987, 1996, 2015)

• India has achieved the 300+ mark 21 times since the 2015 World Cup( 2nd to England).

• India is the only team to have 3 bowlers who conceded less than 5 runs per over and at an average take roughly 2 wickets per match (Y Chahal, K Yadav and J Bumrah are the 3 bowlers).

• India’s MS Dhoni has the highest number of stumping in ODI Cricket History (118). 

My Prediction - 

• Although England is overwhelming favourites, I see India finishing 1st on the points table and playing the first semi-finals. 

Thanks for reading my blog and do check out my other team previews!