India will start its quest for first cricket world cup triumph in almost 28 years today. India take on Bangladesh in the world cup opener in Mirpur, Bangladesh. India start the tournament as one of strong contenders to win this year's world cup. Also in the reckoning for the title triumph are the likes of Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia. Pakistan and West Indies will be the dark horses. Although, after India, i would like to see Pakistan lift the world cup this time. Let's look at the India's chances at this world cup.
India: Undoubtedly, India look much better side on paper. India's strength lie in their batting line-up. Likes of Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan hold the key for India's batting performance. Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh are not in their best of nicks and Yuvraj's place in the playing XI is under doubt, though his part-time left armers could be useful for the team in the middle overs. Pity that the man around which the Indian batting revolved around couple of years ago is going through a very bad batting form for the past year and a half. But with Raina also not in inspiring form with the bat, Yuvraj might just be able to cling on to his place in the XI. All said, if he can somehow rediscover his form, India's chances will become even more brighter. Gambhir has been hot and cold in the past year with injuries not helping his cause either. If he doesn't bring back his dream form displayed not so long ago, then there is a strong possiblity of him being dropped from the team. Then we have the grand old man of the Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. Last WC and expectation of him helping the young team to win the World cup are all weighing on this man. In terms of the records, eveything has been achieved and its time he guides this team for the rest of his career. Pressure is not a new dragon to the most sort after Indian in the planet and he would want to win this cup badly for himself and for the team.
MS Dhoni, the blue-eyed boy of the Indian team and its captain has so far done massively impressive job with the team. He along with coach Gary Kirsten have brought a new sense of freedom to this Indian team. There were previous Indian teams which were counted as one of the favourites for the cup, but this time, they have a strong, astute and well-balanced captain at the helm. You would see him not over joyed if he wins a match or become a bogged and point fingers on his players when he loses a match or the WC itself. Avery important thing is that no matter what happens, whether India win the WC or not, MS Dhoni is expected to captain this team for a long time to come. So, actaully he enjoys some amount of comfort zone. Previous WC's have seen Indian captains sacked after losing the WC, which itself is an added pressure on the captain.
Indian bowling looks vulnerable and not the best bowling attack by any stretch of imagination. A lot rides on Zaheer Khan and his bowling prowess. He is a wicket-taker. We need wicket-takers and India doesnt them apart from Zaheer Khan. Harbhajan Singh has been mainly doing a containing job rather than a wicket-taker. Surely, he should be replaced with Ashwin if he doesnt take vital wickets in earlier games. Otherwise, Indian baowlers have nothing much to write about and i have to say Praveen Kumar will be hugely missed in this world cup.
So, Indian batters have score a minimum 50 runs more than the winning score in every match to compensate for their hole in the bowling and appaling fielding they display in the park. That is an added disadvantage in itself.
