ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Cricket's Biggest Tournament

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Cricket's Biggest Tournament

With less than 50 days to go for the mega event - the Tenth Edition of the Cricket World Cup, preparations are on in full swing in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

This is also a time when the Pundits of the game and the general public get their prediction cap on.

In the past, most people in India when asked to pick a favourite for the tournament, would say India invariably. Chances are that they were speaking from their heart more than from their head. If they gave you the same reply this time around, chances are that their hearts and their heads are in sync! Oh yes, this time around, not only in India, but all around the world, the favourites are India.

What are the factors that give India the edge? First of all, it is their consistency in the 50 over format over the last couple of years. They have been playing very good cricket starting from the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia in early 2008. There were a few hiccups no doubt, but they are now a formidable ODI outfit. India's performances in the last one year are just proof of that.

Next, the squad itself. It is a wonderful blend of youth and experience and India seem to have found the right combination to perform well under most circumstances. Also, it is their ability to come out of any difficult situation and convert it into a winning one that is pleasing.

India has great openers in Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (though Gautam Gambhir too is there, he might slot in at no.3). It has a solid middle order in Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh(needs to hit form); and even Virat Kohli is coming of age. And they have big hitters and good finishers in M.S. Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan. On the bowling side, they have Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh who are certain to play, and people like Praveen Kumar are very handy in this format.

The bench strength is also worth mentioning. It has never been so strong in the history of Indian cricket and that is a fact that the team can be very proud of. They seem to have players for all situations. Players like R.Ashwin and Saurabh Tiwary could well have a shot at glory this time.

The wickets of the sub-continent and the crowd support in this part of the world would also give them a big edge. Under the captaincy on M.S. Dhoni, the mental approach to the game has changed quite a lot and credit to Mr. Dhoni for that. Gary Kirsten too, has played a huge role in this transformation along with the senior players in the team.

Talking about competition, it is the World cup and other teams are no pushovers. Australia for once, are not favourites, England and South Africa are very good teams and are playing good cricket. Sri Lanka too are playing in familiar conditions and are strong favourites to make it to atleast the semi final stages.

But if one had to pick a winner, I repeat, a name that would come first to the head is undoubtedly India. They need to play good cricket together throughout the tournament no doubt.

India has been under immense pressure from the public for most of the previous editions. This burden of expectation has sometime transformed into pressure in the match as well, and has led to their downfall on many occasions. But this time, this pressure and expectation could well transform into confidence and positive energy and it could well be the impetus that could give India what 1.2 billion people want desperately - The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.