India Preview

India has won the World Cup once before in 1983. Led by Kapil Dev they were considered rank outsiders but they managed to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament by beating the mighty West Indies. Since then India has reached the semifinal twice in 1987 and 1996 but has gone no further.

Going by the current form of the Indian team, with major losses in the Pepsi Cup in India and in the Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah, it is clear that they will probably struggle to reach the semifinals. Also being in Group A, with the likes of South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, and Zimbabwe, is not exactly going help India's cause. It is unlikely that India will be able to beat South Africa in their opener in Hove on 15th May. Overcoming England will also be very difficult. Therefore, in order to qualify for the next round India must beat Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

India's greatest strength is, of course, Sachin Tendulkar. He will definitely be one of the star attractions in the World Cup. In the last World Cup he scored 523 runs in seven matches, the highest by any batsman in six World Cups so far, and averaged 87.17, with two centuries and three other scores of 70, 90 and 65.

On paper the rest of the batting lineup looks very good, with the likes of Ganguly, Dravid, Azharuddin and Jadeja. But whether these batsmen can perform under unfamiliar batting conditions is not clear. The bowling attack will probably perform much better than expected. When India last toured England, Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath bowled exceptionally well. Debashish Mohanty might also bowl well if given the chance to play. For young Ajit Agarkar this tournament might make or break his career. If he is disciplined and focussed then he will play a major part in any Indian success. On the other hand, if he bowls short and concedes a lot of runs, like he has in the last few matches he has played, then it will signal his decline.

Statistics

• Team World Cup Records
• Team One-Day International Records
• Indian Statistics