Loaded with free-stroking batsmen, but missing match-winning bowlers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India will look to chase down — rather than defend — the World Cup title they won four years ago.
In Rohit Sharma, the only batsman with two 200s in one-day internationals, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and the explosive Dhoni, India possess destructive batting firepower.
However, the frail bowling attack remains a worry, as was evident during the recent Test series in Australia where the hosts piled up 500-plus totals in each of the four matches during a 2-0 win.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at the present set of seamers comprising Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav, saying India needed to unearth new bowlers.
The same seam attack is set to feature in the World Cup alongside three frontline spinners in off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and left-armers Ravindra Jadeja and young Akshar Patel.
India won the title under Dhoni in 2011 with an experienced squad that included seasoned campaigners like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.
The present squad has just four players — Dhoni, Kohli, Raina and Ashwin — who were part of that winning combination, leaving the team short of World Cup experience.
Rohit Sharma, who followed his one-day 209 against Australia in 2013 with a scintillating world record score of 264 against the West Indies last year, is expected to fire at the top of the order despite a poor Test series.
Kohli, recently appointed Test captain after Dhoni quit the longer format, is one of the finest batsmen in the modern game with 21 one-day centuries in the last five years, a testimony of his hunger for big scores.
Dhoni is a leader and batsman tailor-made for limited-overs cricket whose improvised big-hitting has won many a battle for India.
A win over Pakistan in their first match in Adelaide on Sunday next week will be the tonic Dhoni needs to revitalize the side.
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