Like any other team, every time Team India has done something remarkable in big events in the world cricket, it has been attributed to one major factor. It is being anticipated that the 2015 World Cup will throw up something special for supporters.
India will be spearheaded by a captain of MS Dhoni’s stature and the entire team will be looking up to him, when it will come down to finishing the games in crunch situations in the World Cup.
Before setting sights on mission World Cup, India’s immediate hurdle is to set the record straight by winning the tri-series, involving the hosts Australia and England. Whatever happened in the Test is a thing of the past, and India must start their ODI campaign in Australia with a bang.
They are the second best in the world after Australia, rank wise, in one-day internationals. Practically, the batting heavy side of Dhoni is really strong in areas which matter the most.
The Australian opener David Warner has gone on the record saying the defending champions don’t stand a chance in the forthcoming World Cup. But Warner needs a quick revision of India’s track record.
India’s recent struggles with teams outside Asia in Test cricket aside, in shorter formats this team has kept its standards intact. These are the world champions of 2011, with four players from the title winning team and players that won the 2013 Champions Trophy in England.
It was only last year that the team lost the Test series to England, but they came back strongly in the ODI series. Then, at home, they beat the West Indies and which was followed by another walk in the park against Sri Lanka.
Prior to that, they also played the final of the World T20 in Bangladesh, which they lost to Sri Lanka. So both confidence and form-wise, this team has the right mix to defend the World Cup title. The players know with great certainty where they stand in world cricket in ODIs.
Also, the core members of the Indian team have a fair idea about their roles in the side. For the last two years these players have been given assurances by the team management that they will be around till the big event of 2015.
Take the example of Ravindra Jadeja, who has been groomed specifically for this World Cup. He had a freak shoulder injury during the Australian Test series and had to be rushed home for rehabilitation.
Despite that he must have known that the selectors would pick him for the 15-member World Cup team. Such is the confidence Dhoni has given to his players.
There are a few newcomers like Axar Patel and Stuart Binny who don’t have enough exposure in Australian conditions, but that is not a worry for the team. Axar was rushed into the Test team right after Jadeja’s injury so that the young spin all-rounder could get used to the conditions there.
As far as Binny is concerned, he had been playing first-class cricket regularly for defending Ranji Trophy champions, Karnataka, before boarding the Australia bound flight. Similarly, Ambati Rayudu too has been playing regularly for the Baroda Ranji team.
Top players — Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma — are already used to Australian conditions, and should be ready.
This team has all fifteen match fit-players. It’s a positive start to our World Cup campaign. It’s a difficult journey, but being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. This team may be given a cactus, but they don’t have to sit on!
