Why is India a World Cup Favourite? Can India Clinch Its Third World Cup title?

Virat Kohli is all set to showcase the skills he has acquired over the years by playing alongside legends such as Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni, etc. When he leaves with his team for the cricket world cup 2019, he will have the goal of ending up at the top of the World Cup points table, as Mahendra Singh Dhoni did eight years ago. But then, Dhoni had a balanced team of experienced senior players as well as young and enthusiastic players.

Many experts have been asked about their favourites in the cricket world cup 2019 and most of them have revealed their choices. A lot many of them have reiterated that India is among the world cup 2019 favourites and everyone is expecting to see India in the semi-finals of the cricket world cup 2019.

The reason behind this belief is that India has the best batsman of the current era on its team, known as the Run Machine — Virat Kohli. He has been the most consistent player throughout the past few years and has a wide experience of leading an inexperienced squad towards the world cup victory. Also, he has played in 2011 and 2015 World Cups and knows how to deal with the tremendous pressure and expectations involved.

Along with Virat, the Chase Master, India has also got the world’s best wicket-keeper, who has led India through a victory in two other world cups. Although Mahendra Singh Dhoni isn’t the leader this time, his agility behind the wickets is going to be crucial for India. He serves as a medium to save reviews and also send the batsmen back to the pavilion with his keeping skills. Sachin Tendulkar, who is known for his record for World Cup most runs has also said that Dhoni is the best Keeper India has ever produced.

Apart from these key players from the batting perspective, India can also boast of Jasprit Bumrah who is an expert with the new ball as well as in the death overs bowling. His very presence makes the opponents fearful and he is backed up by his fellow players like Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The trio can wreak havoc in any batting line-up and get India an unexpected victory as well.

Then comes the all-rounders in the Indian team who have a huge experience and are young and agile to save crucial runs as fielders. They are able bowlers and can change the course of the game whenever required, both with the bat and the ball. Hardik Pandya already has his hard-hitting abilities to his peak and is joined by Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav who are highly reliable.

But no team shall be able to put its hands on the cricket world cup 2019 if it has a weak foundation score, that is the opening pair is going to play a crucial role in this world cup as well. While in 2011 World Cup, Dhoni was favoured by Sehwag, Sachin, and Gambhir, Virat Kohli has Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan from his team. Rohit already has double centuries to his name and KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan have shown their form in the recently concluded Indian Premier League. Therefore, India has all the reasons to be labeled as the favourites in the cricket world cup 2019.

Now, if there remains a question about India being able to clinch its third world cup title, it would largely depend on the performance of the Indian players as a team. Although, Virat had an excellent team in the IPL but couldn’t win because of individual efforts taking over team efforts. However, with a more mature team in the World Cup, Virat and his team can surely bring the world cup back home.