5 reasons why India have the best chance to win ICC World Cup 2015

History beckons for MS Dhoni's men who are only two steps away from claiming the ultimate prize yet again. If Captain Cool does manage to overcome the final two hurdles, he will become only the third captain after Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting to win back-to-back titles. Here, we look at 5 reasons why India are top favourites to defend their title: 

#1 Australian openers are failing

Ever since Aaron Finch and David Warner put up an opening stand of 57 against England on Valentine’s Day, Australia haven’t managed to get something of value from them as a duo. Their opening partnership scores read: 30, 14, 19, 30 and 15; this is quite symptomatic of how the openers have played during the course of the World Cup.

Finch, after that blazing hundred against England, has failed to cross 30 even once. Warner has been slightly more consistent, but he has just the solitary big score of 178 to his name, that too, against first-timers Afghanistan. 

In a high-pressure encounter at Sydney on Thursday, this is a huge opportunity for India to capitalise on. Yes, the Australian middle-order has been coming to the rescue and has been covering up the opening blemishes – but one can never tell. Imagine they are faced with a high target and lose both their openers early, Dhoni’s spinners will then stifle the opposition.