What are India's chances in the ICC CWC 2019?

We are days away from WC. Every Indian is hoping for a re-run of 2011. Many are counting India as front runner for the trophy.

Though, I am not much hopeful of of India’s chance in England. The biggest worry for me is India’s lack of fire power in middle and lower middle order. Super flat pitches are expected during tournament. Recently We have seen teams making big scores without breaking a sweat and teams batting second chasing them with ease. Here I believe India will fall short. I see current India line up good enough for Chases of up to 325.They will start gasping for breadth after that. Especially if Rohit and Virat fail to contribute.

India’s batting is top heavy and reliant on Rohit and Kohli. We lack fire power after that. Dhoni is no longer the force he was, Rahul yet to prove himself, I will be acid test for him. Kedar and DK are good and and handle pressure well but lack explosive capabilities.Hardik is explosive but seems good enough for short bursts. He is inexperienced in shouldering a tough chase and hasn’t much games of 50 over format under his belt.

As a fan, I root for India, but I am not much hopeful. What do you people say?

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It’s too early to predict anything. Lots of good teams and hopeful trophy contestants. Will have to wait and watch few matches before we rush to any favourites or sign off any team from the World Cup race.

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Head to Head in World Cup - India

v AFG: Yet to play
v AUS: Won 3, Lost 8
v BAN: Won 2, Lost 1
v ENG: Won 3, Lost 3, Tie 1
v NZ: Won 3, Lost 4
v PAK: Won 6, Lost 0
v SA: Won1, Lost 3
v SL: Won 3, Lost 4, NR 1
v WI: Won 5, Lost 3

We have upper hand only against WI & PAK. :frowning_face:

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Completely agreed with your analysis. The silver lining 3 months prior to today seemed liked India’s bowling however, with kuldeep losing the form he was in and the second pacer whoever it be Shami or Bhuvneshwar have not showed the class they once were showing is another thing to worry. As an ardent fan i am rooting for team India but when we analyse other teams I don’t expect anything good this time around.

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Stats can often be misleading. This is one of those stats. If we take a sneak peak in India’s overall record in one say internationals, India always seem to be on the receiving end, however the 90’s kid who started watching cricket in early 2000’s can’t seem to gather the memory of when did India lost so much. The reason of such a bad record is that India struggled a lot in the early stage of ODI cricket. They weren’t a force to be reckoned with till the early 2000’s with 1983 world cup and 1985 world series being exceptions. Therefore India have a bad record against such teams. However if you look from 2003, India has lost just 6 games in 4 World Cups.

In 2003 it won all its matches if we leave out two against Australia.
2007 was a bad year, lost one against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
In 2011 just lost one match against South Africa
2015 saw a similar result lost no matches till the semi final stages.

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Yes, as is said “Statistics are like Bikini, What it shows is interesting, But what is hides is vital”. :wink:

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Our fears of Inadequacy of Indian Middle order turned right yesterday. Ind almost lost to AFG.

Rahul can be forgiven for batting slow as Ind was looking to build at the start. But, He was not comfortable on slow pitch. Kohli is India’s best batsman on slow pitches and He did good. But, Shankar is definitely your No 4 and Dhoni as usual ate up lots of Ball. Inability of Shankar and Dhoni to rotate the strike hindered Kohli’s extra ordinary ability to do so. By the time Kedar came, AFG tweakers were in driving seat and He managed to put together a decent Innings but fell a little short of providing final flourish.

If Rohit & Kohli go early, our middle-order seems quite out-of-order. It would be good if Dhoni & Pant play at 4-5 or 5-4 depending on situation. Kedar, Hardik at 6-7 and let them float depending on wickets. And if Shami is playing instead of Bhuvi, get Jaddu for Kuldeep on not so quick wickets, On wickets helping quickies All three Bhuvi, Sami and Bumrah should play leaving Kuldeep out. Kedar and Chahal should suffice for spinner duties.

Another aspect I thought of was Kohli’s not optimal use of bowlers. Pitch was slow, Spinners were taking wickets and not giving runs, Afghan spinners combining for 119 for 5 off 34 overs, and Kedar the nifty, deceptive spinner didn’t bowl a single ball. Ineffective and expensive Hardik bowled full quota. If kedar had bowled Afg wouldn’t have been able to come do close. I don’t what Kohli was thinking! Is Kedar carrying injury scare? Good enough to Bat but not bowl?

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After Dhoni’s and Shankar’s innings! :joy::joy::joy::joy:

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I think India would be better placed if they bring in Pant and Bhuvi in place of Shankar & Kedar. That way they will have unbeatable bowling combo. And batting with a little more edge. What say?!

:joy::rofl:

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