The one solitary reason why India might not win the 2019 World Cup
The ICC World Cup is just 6 months away and all the 10 teams have started practicing hard ahead of the grandest cricket tournament. Australia are the defending champions and not many fans expect them to retain the trophy.
Hosts England are the favorites to win their first every Cricket World Cup as they will enjoy the benefits of home conditions and on top of that also have one of the best ODI teams currently.
The Indian team possesses some of the biggest names of world cricket like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and also has the best youngsters in Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant and many more. While, the 15-man squad for the World Cup is yet to be announced by the BCCI, there's one reason why India will not lift their 3rd World Cup despite placing their best team.
Well, if we look at the team which played the ICC World Cup 2015 and the one which played the ODI series in England earlier in July, the top 3 three batsmen of the team are the same. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been the cornerstones of the Indian ODI team. The bowling department too has improved a lot with the introduction of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah along with the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar's presence.
India's all-rounder position has also been almost sealed by the Pandya brothers and the wicket-keeping gloves belong to MS Dhoni. So, the only area which can be called India's weakness is the middle order. The No. 4,5 and 6 of the Indian team are yet not confirmed though the selectors have tried several batsmen.
When India played England in the 3-match ODI series, it was the middle order consisting of Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul, that led to the team's losses. None of the batsmen were successful on the English pitches, where the World Cup will be played. Ambati Rayudu seems to be India's best no.4 batsman now but the fans should remember that he performed well against a depleted no.9 ranked side Windies and that too in home conditions. Rayudu's form and class will be tested in the upcoming Australian ODI series and it will interesting to see how he performs.
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India's middle order has been out of touch and with every team set to play a minimum of 9 matches in the group stage ahead of the semi-finals, Virat Kohli would know that he cannot win the World Cup without a stable and performing middle order.
This problem has persisted with the Indian team ever since the departure of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag and is expected to continue at the ICC World Cup 2019 to lead the team's exit from the four-yearly event.