Team India Preview - Can MS Dhoni get a Sachin like farewell ?!

For some of you have who may have that question, where is India's Preview ?!. Yes its the last in this edition of 10 Team Previews for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. That's because all of the other teams play atleast one game before India make their appearance. Infact India's first game would be South Africa's third match thanks to BCCI ensuring adequate time for the players between tournaments as the IPL Schedule of 2019 was unreleased when the World Cup 2019 Fixtures were announced. So much like a Bollywood movie, the hero isn't going to be seen in the first few scenes of the movie.

Alongside England, if there is another team that starts favorites its India. Their win-loss ratio has been 65% since the last World Cup. In this period India has had 9 consecutive bilateral series wins. The key to India's success has been the consistent form of their top 3 batsmen and their balanced bowling attack having the ability to take wickets throughout the course of an inning. 

India's two biggest strengths going into this World Cup is the never say die attitude of their skipper Virat Kohli & their all terrain strike bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. These two have been absolutely clinical for team India across formats .

Hardik Pandya getting back into form after the controversial Koffee with Karan episode was imperative for the balance of Team India. In fact time out from the game has made him retrospect and come back stronger and fitter with better striking abilities. 

Another big plus for India going into this World Cup, is the form of MS Dhoni. There was a time when people questioned his place in the line up, but he has brutally answered his critics with some strong performances. His mere presence at the crease is enough to get the most out of the relatively inexperienced middle order. With his computer like mind having an inbuilt continuously upgrading software, his inputs can be critical to Virat Kohli's decision making as a captain.

The injury prone Mohammad Shami has proved his fitness by consistently bowling match defining spells in the build up to the tournament and is all set to feature ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The presence of all rounders like Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja and Vijay Shankar gives India ample permutations and combinations to chose from depending on the surface and overhead conditions. The recent form of Kuldeep Yadav remains a matter of concern. India's only other major worry is who bats for them at number 4, and it appears that Lokesh Rahul has booked that spot with a good performance in  the warm up fixture. 

Likely XI 

1) Shikhar Dhawan

2) Rohit Sharma

3) Virat Kohli

4) Lokesh Rahul

5) MS Dhoni

6) Kedar Jadhav

7) Hardik Pandya

8) Ravindra Jadeja

9) Mohammad Shami

10) Yuzvendra Chahal

11) Jasprit Bumrah

Bench

1) Vijay Shankar - Reserve All Rounder

2) Kuldeep Yadav - Reserve Spinner

3) Dinesh Karthik - Reserve Wicket Keeper

4) Bhuvneshwar Kumar - Reserve Fast Bowler

Verdict - I expect them to definitely feature in the Top 4.  The presence of multiple match winners makes them strong title contenders.