India ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 profile
As part of our lead up to the ICC World Cup 2019 hosted by England and Wales, Expat Sport will bring you in depth profiles of all ten qualifying teams set to put bat to ball when cricket’s premier competition begins next May. We look at the players, coaches, the highs and lows of form and make a nod to those we believe will make a success of their bid to be crowned champions of the World.
Here come the Men in Blue – Can cricket’s movie stars light up the big screen?
Life as an Indian cricketer is about as near to being a Bollywood idol as it’s possible to be. Nowhere else are cricketers revered to such an extent. But the glitz and glamour can come with a heavy price tag. Nowhere else in the world does expectation of their national team’s success weigh so heavily either. As legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly so famously once said of football, so it goes for Indian cricket:
“People think it’s a matter of life or death. I assure you it’s much more serious than that”
So knowing the Indian ODI side currently sits one rung down the ladder below England in the ICC rankings, does not go down well on the Subcontinent. The current 2018 win/loss ratios run to wafer thin margins however. As of the end of October, England stands at 73.91% while India fractionally lags behind at 73.68%. Really, the race couldn’t be tighter. But crucially England must be feeling psychologically on top after having won the summer ODI series between the two sides 2-1, especially as it was played out in England, mirroring the conditions and home advantage England will enjoy next year.
So what are India’s chances of lifting the ICC World Cup 2019? Most global cricketing experts set them at either joint favourites with England or a slim second. As with all the other teams in the competition, form and a degree of luck will ultimately dictate the outcome but India have some of the biggest guns in the game and they will arrive in England and Wales next year shooting from the hip.
In Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, they have three of the top five batsmen in the ICC ODI rankings, sitting first, second and fifth respectively. Not only that but with the likelihood of MS Dhoni featuring, they have one of the all time legends of the ODI format with a staggering 331 matches under his belt, a veteran that will bring a huge calm confidence to the team. There had been a lot of speculation about Dhoni’s future following his recent poor form with the bat culminating in him being dropped from the current T20 national side. But Indian selectors have confirmed this week that they believe Dhoni is still the best wicket keeper in the country and his place, barring injury, is guaranteed.
It really is a batting line up to strike fear into any team and when they go, they go huge.
That’s why Gary Kirsten, former South African cricketer and World Cup winning coach of the Indian cricket team thinks they have every chance of winning:
“Yeah, I think winning a World Cup is not just something that’s going to happen. I think you require a lot to work out for you. You need a lot of luck along the way. There are a lot of good teams out there,”
“But, you know, India have a great team and you know they have got every chance under Virat Kohli to compete and do really well.”
India also have some choices to make when it comes to their preferred bowling attack. As far as spinners go, Kuldeep Yadav and leggie Yuzvendra Chahal seem settled regulars leaving one more potential slot open for either a third spin bowler or perhaps another seamer. Much will rely on the fitness and form of allrounder Hardik Pandya as to which way the selectors are swayed as he brings prowess with both bat and fast-medium bowling, and cuts down on the need to recruit specialist seam bowlers into the side.
So there is much to be confident about and yet still the nagging doubts remain. Influential sport site Sportkeeda’s analyst, Atharva Apte, suggests there are 3 reasons why India won’t win the ICC World Cup 2019. Apte believes that despite the excellence of their front line seam attack there isn’t much strength in depth should injuries kick in:
“The back-up in the fast bowling department is a matter of concern and India have to sort it out as quickly as they can. Giving a long rope to bowlers like Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar might work. India do not have a lot of bowling options in the top order too, which adds insult to the injury.”
Hi second point is that despite having an awe inspiring top order batting line up, their middle order remains brittle and open to sudden collapse:
“When India won the 2011 World Cup, they had a strong middle-order comprising of Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, and Dhoni. However, in recent times, India’s middle order is one of the weakest among top cricketing nations. No Indian batsman has looked like fitting in the No.4 slot. India has tried Rahane, Yuvraj, Pandey, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya in last 18 months but none of them have shown promise. After Suresh Raina’s shoddy performances in England, India might have to worry about No.5 slot as well.”
And finally to round off his concern, Apte points to a possible psychological frailty as proved by their run of faltering performances in major tournaments or crucial matches:
“After the Champions Trophy victory in 2013, India has let go ICC WT20 2014 and 2016, the 50-over World Cup in 2015 and the Champions Trophy in 2017, all after reaching the semi-finals in style.
There has been a similar pattern followed by the Indian team in the recent ICC tournaments. They crush their opponents throughout the group stage but cometh the knockouts and India look a totally different team on the park.
Somewhere down the line, this choking factor will come to the minds of Indian cricketers and it will be a big challenge for them to not let that affect their performances and treat every knockout as just another game.”
And it may well be this last point that has the most impact on success or failure for the Men in Blue next year. There is no doubt at all that they have a blockbuster package, that critics and audiences alike often swoon at their exceptional performances, but on this, the greatest screen of all, will stage-fright get the better of these movie stars?
Expat Sports investigates the likelihood of an Indian triumph at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 hosted by England and Wales.
