The biggest cricketing event has just begun and as most of the teams are looking forward to their fourth round of matches, let’s attempt to work out why is team India a favourite.
So far, we have seen the fall of the mighty South African team, consecutively losing 3 games and Bangladesh's victory over Sri Lanka. These recent games remind us about the unpredictability of the game irrespective of the team. Let’s see how this unpredictability panned out in India’s case.
India had a strong squad for the World Cup 2007 but was still knocked out in the group stage but things changed in 2011, even after losing against South Africa and a tie against England, India won the World Cup for the second time. But in 2015 even after winning every single game played, India was unfortunately knocked out by the world champions Australia in the semifinals.
This shows every team playing the championship has an equal chance of winning it but a deep analysis of the teams and their performances puts some teams into the favourites list including India. The following are the strong zones of the Indian team and are the unique advantages that they have over other contenders in this contest.
1.Captaincy
It's not always about the playing squad, but the one who leads them from the front possesses qualities like efficient leadership, quick decision-making skills, understands his teammates and unites their individual efforts towards collective goals. India has 4 players in their squad who have already proved themselves as able captains.
Rohit Sharma, Captain of The Mumbai Indians, took his team 4 times to the IPL crown, Indian Captain Virat Kohli, is a leader under whose captaincy India has won 50 out of 67 Matches, Dinesh Karthik, Captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, has put up a decent performance as a captain so far and MS Dhoni’s successful captaincy needs no description. The combined experience of these players makes India one of the strongest sides in terms of exercising leadership.
2. No.1 Batsman And Bowler
Undoubtedly the best batsman of all formats of cricket at present is Virat Kohli. He is the biggest strength of team India when it comes to batting. Known for his aggressive captaincy, exceptional fielding skills and a blend of classy and destructive batting, the No.1 batsman is a nightmare for the bowlers.
Adding to India's supremacy is the world's No.1 bowler at present, Jasprit Bumrah, leading the bowling attack of India. Well known for his Swing in the initial overs and his yorkers and toe-crushers in the later overs, he can be a lethal weapon.
3. The Spin Trio
The Indian squad comprises of 3 spinners who are equally capable and tend to deliver miracles in the middle overs by restricting the run flow and pick wickets. Two of the young guns, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal join the experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to make up the Indian spin force.
Even though other teams have experienced spinners but a successful spin duo makes India an exception. In the last two matches, Chahal was busy picking wickets in the middle and Kuldeep has been great in restricting the flow of runs with his Chinaman bowling variations.
4. All-Rounders
The All-round show of Indian team is so far reduced to a single name, Hardik Pandya. 2 spinners and 2 medium Pacers doing the job for India. Ravindra Jadeja known for his experience adds to the group of all-rounders. The team also has Kedar Jadhav, who can deliver with both the bat and the ball.
Vijay Shankar is the youngest in the squad is also capable of hitting it big and hard, he also helps in building up the innings whenever necessary. Then joins the pinch hitter Hardik Pandya who can bowl a complete spell and destroy the opponent's bowling order. Pandya can be used at any spells as he's able to put batsman under pressure with his shot balls and bouncers.
5. Both Young And Experienced Players
Even though BCCI faced a lot of criticism for the squad selection for the world cup the first two matches shows that the squad is perfectly balanced. It appears to be a perfect blend of experience and young talents. The presence of MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik inclusion of young guns like KL Rahul whose selection was initially questioned. But his performance in the tournament was enough to shut his critics.
The openers who failed in the warm-up matches have picked their pace and are back in form. An Experienced Bhubaneswar Kumar and Mohammed Shami with the bowling attack and Jadeja as an experienced spinner make this the best possible squad for Team India.
6. Opening Matches
Winning the very first few matches of the tournament helps the team not only to let go of the pressure but also helps in building their confidence.
Unfortunately, the opening pair was put to test due to its poor performance in the warm-up matches. But things changed as both the openers scored a century in two consecutive matches and a 100-run partnership against Australia relieved the excess pressure on them.
We also witnessed some quickfire from the Indian middle order where Pandya led the attack, where his strike rate remained over 200. The spinner duo picking wickets in the middle overs was a huge relief that is hopefully more likely to be seen in the upcoming matches.
7. The 4th Number Concern
One of the biggest headaches for team India and the selectors was the position of the No.4 batsmen. Even though there were a number of contenders for that position all of them weren't pleasing enough. It included Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer etc. Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar who were already in the squad were also being considered.
As of now after the warm-ups and 2 opening matches, KL Rahul is the one who is holding the position but in the absence of Dhawan, he may need to open with Rohit Sharma as he did in the much-watched India-Pakistan match. The 4th number will be open for Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant. Inclusion of Rishabh Pant from the reserve team adds one more quality big hitter into the squad which makes the team more robust.
8. MS Dhoni
Last but not least, the most successful captain India has ever produced, the only captain to win all major ICC trophies for his national team. Undoubtedly the presence of MS Dhoni behind the stumps boosts up the entire team. The man in the age of 37 is still the quickest behind the stumps and fastest between the wickets. Captain cool and an aggressive Indian captain is a perfect duo when it comes to captaincy.
Still the best finisher and when he partners with the Indian Muscle Hardik Pandya the duo can do some serious damage, hitting to the gathering in the death overs.
The above stated are some of the factors that make India favourites for this tournament. As said earlier that all teams end up having an equal chance of laying their hands on the World Cup but as die-hard team India fans, we defy probability and if the men in blue continue to amaze us with their performance, their victory might be the only probable outcome.
- Ajay Sreeram
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