There is no denying the fact that the hosts England are the hot favorites for the ICC World Cup commencing on May 30, but Team India is the among the top challengers to England. Last year, India had a dominating start to their English tour, but due to injuries to some crucial players, they failed to finish the ODIs on a high. Since, the ICC World Cup 2015, the men in blue have won 56 out of 86 matches which is identical with England’s win figures through the Three Lions have lost less number of matches than India.
Among the experts, the Indian coach during the World T20 2007 Lalchand Rajput reckons that there is a great similarity between the Virat Kohli and his men for the 2019 World Cup with that of MS Dhoni that had lifted the trophy in 2007 in South Africa. India had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs to win the trophy on the final of the tournament.
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As per the quotes in Mid-day, Rajput feels that the 2007 team also had a lot of all-around ability, which makes a lot of difference. He said, “All-rounders make a lot of difference and I think we have got good ones now as well. We also have a very strong top three and that’s very important. Earlier, there was Virender Sehwag. Now we have got Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli and then Hardik Pandya, the X-factor.”
He further added, “MS Dhoni, as usual, is a great finisher so India has a very well-balanced team. This team should definitely win the World Cup. Apart from batting and the team’s all-around abilities, Rajput felt India have one of the best bowling attacks. India is very well equipped.”
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Kohli will be looking toward players like Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Vijay Shankar to put their hand up in the quest for their third World Cup. However, the no.4 batting position as Vijay, who has been picked to man the position, has had a poor run in the recently concluded season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
