SO with just 15 days remaining for the Cricket World Cup, I will be highlighting all the teams participating in this tournament along with their chances to lift the Trophy. So to kick off the action I would begin with ?TEAM INDIA?.
From crying babies in 75 and 79 edition to World Cup winners in 83, INDIA has a rich history in this tournament. There other good performances were reaching the final of the 2003 Edition and Semi-Finals in 1987 and 1996 respectively, ironically on both the occasions WC was held in Sub-Continent and INDIA got knocked out in the Semi-Finals
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India?s ?worst performance in the World Cup came in the year 2007 when they were knocked out of the tournament in the 1st?round itself. No one will forget the story which circulated after few days about Sachin Tendulkar crying inside the toilet of ?TEAM INDIA?s? dressing room after their loss against Sri Lanka.
But destiny plays game even with the ?GODS?. SACHIN has played in 5 World Cups and was very close to lift the trophy in 2003. But luck or you can destiny has eluded the Legend to get his hands on this prestigious trophy. After achieving almost every record in Cricket, World Cup is the only thing which betraying the Little Master for over two decades.
But this time the World Cup is in Master?s own country and Final is in the city which he was born. As lot of cricketing pundits are predicting If INDIA wins the World Cup Final at MUMBAI on April 2 and if Sachin scores a match winning century in that game, it will a dream script written by the GOD for a Legend. After ?Sachin Mania? let?s concentrate on ?Team India? as whole.
Team India will be captained by M.S.Dhoni who is to me one of the best captains in world cricket today. Known for his calmness even in high-pressure situations, Dhoni aka ?Mahi? is a captain on which INDIA can rely on no matter what the situation. With legends like Sachin and Sehwag opening the innings, ?Team India? have the best opening combination in the tournament. And with Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli following the two greats, ?Team India? has a very formidable top order.
With power hitters like Yuvraj, Yusuf Pathan, Raina and Dhoni controlling the middle and lower-middle order, ?Team India? has one of the best batting line ups in the tournament. Even tail-enders like Harbhajan, Zaheer, and Praveen can cheap in with important Runs in crucial situations.To me ?Team India? has the best batting line up among all the teams participating in the tournament.
India?s bowling line-up is not as dangerous as that of Australia or Sri Lanka but still can be a force to reckon with especially in sub-continental conditions. Zaheer is our number one fast bowler and with guys like Munaf, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar for back-up, Team India looks good in the fast bowling department. Since World Cup ?is going to be played in slow and low sub-continental tracks, the role of Spinners will be of upmost important.
With world class spinners like Harbhajan Singh in the squad and backed up by quality spinners like Piyush Chawla and Ravichandra Ashwin, ?Team India?s ?spin department also looks lethal. ?Part time spinners like Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Virendra Sehwag give MS Dhoni an option to go in with an extra batsman especially in crunch games.
Talking about fielding, this unit is probably the Best Indian fielding side in all ?world Cup Tournaments?. Players like Raina, Virat and Yuvraj are among the top-class fielders in International cricket today. Even quick bowlers like Zaheer, Praveen and Nehra are quick to move along the field.
India is placed in ?Group B? at the World Cup and will have tough competitions from Teams like England, South Africa, West Indies and Bangladesh. But I don?t think that India will have any trouble to make it to the quarter-final stages. Although all the knock-out games will be high pressure games, I am sure that with the strong batting line-up and lethal bowling combination, ?Team India? is the No. 1 contender for lifting the World Cup at Mumbai on April 2.