World Cup Teams Watch - India: Hungry for redemption with the ‘favourites’ tag

It has been 12 years since India lifted the World Cup and despite just two trophies to show for, if we take into consideration the appearance in the knockouts, that would probably tell us that the Indian cricket team is one of the most successful teams in the antiquity of the tournament ever since its inception in 1975.

Apart from lifting the trophy in 1983 and 2011, India were the losing finalists in 2003 where Australia decimated the Sourav Ganguly led-unit. The Indian team has made the semifinals on four occasions in 1987, 1996, 2015 and 2019. 

However, as they say, let bygones be bygones, and another new dawn awaits the Men in Blue as the tournament returns to India after 12 years, rising hopes of Indian fans with Rohit Sharma’s men set on their quest for the silverware. After consistent disappointment in recent editions of the tournament, India will be hoping to make amends and so will the fans be pinning their dreams and beliefs on the squad.

Recent Form:

India’s recent form would be something that would be instilling optimism in the team and its fans too as they razed Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finale to lift the continental crown emphatically while triumphing over Australia, 2-1 in the three-match ODI series. They would have hoped to add further confidence and sheen to their already formidable unit in the warm-up games but the rain gods weren’t kind enough for the Men in Blue to play some cricket.

X-Factors:

Virat Kohli 

It is needless to say that the former Indian captain would be desperate to finish things on a high as this may very well be his last World Cup appearance. One of those rare cricketers to lift the trophy in his very first rodeo and carrying Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders, he etched a snap into immortality for the Indian cricket fans. Given his current run of some unstoppable form, Kohli smashed a half-century on his return against Australia while blasting a couple of centuries in the last four innings that he played. Knowing Kohli’s proclivity for coming to life when the bigger tournaments come knocking, he is going to be one of the leading contenders for the tournament’s highest run-scorer award.

Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj has been in intimidating form for the last year and a half. Miyan possesses the ability to engender banana swing with the new ball that proved to be the unravelling for Sri Lanka in the grand final of the Asia Cup. He has been one of the key architects of India’s recent dominion in the powerplay with the ball. Capable of bowling at pace known to trouble the best of batters, expect Siraj to cause quite a stir when he has the ball in hand.

Kuldeep Yadav

If we turn the clock back by six months as well, ideally the time frame where a bare minimum clarity of who should be a part of the World Cup squad is usually decided, Kuldeep was nowhere in the frame. However, in an otherwise lacklustre year for Delhi Capitals, Kuldeep proved to be one of their rare mainstays with a handful of imperious showdowns. Come West Indies knocking on the doors and the chinaman was already making ripples which would soon turn into waves in the upcoming Asia Cup. Ever since that fifer against Pakistan and another four-fer against Sri Lanka, his place in the Indian squad was more than justified. With the Indian surfaces coming into play, Kuldeep will play a crucial role, particularly given his variations which have proven to be quite tough to handle for some of the world’s best batters. Kuldeep can prove to be the game-changer that India is looking forward to.

Areas to work on:

There isn’t any particular area that India will primarily need to focus on but they will definitely like to maintain consistency and avert that middle-order collapse at all costs. The inclusion of KL Rahul has obviously bolstered the engine room of India but in case if he falls, there should be enough reliability on Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav to efface any fears of a sudden meltdown that can be a staggering blow to India.

Squad for World Cup:

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami, R Ashwin