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India 2019 Cricket World Cup squad: Key players, fixtures, prediction, odds and more

After winning the World Cup in 2011, India has produced another world-class team capable of adding to their growing trophy collection.

Virat Kohli’s side has every position covered and are serious contenders to win the competition if everything goes to plan.

While there is an impressive balance between varied pace and spin bowling options, the final piece to complete this India side will be a batsman stepping up to batsman support Kohli.

In their one-day series against England last summer, India struggled to find a consistent batter in their order to start well for Kohli or come in and add late runs on a regular basis.

Rohit Sharma, who recently led Mumbai Indians to the IPL title, always has the potential to produce a match-winning innings and can further cement his place as one of the greatest one-day players of all-time with a successful summer.

Fixtures

  • Vs South Africa, Wednesday 5 June, Hampshire Bowl, Southampton

  • Vs Australia, Sunday 9 June, The Oval, London

  • Vs New Zealand, Thursday 13 June, Trent Bridge, Nottingham

  • Vs Pakistan, Sunday 16 June, Old Trafford, Manchester

  • Vs Afghanistan, Saturday 22 June, Hampshire Bowl, Southampton

  • Vs West Indies, Thursday 27 June, Old Trafford, Manchester

  • Vs England, Edgbaston, Sunday 30 June, Edgbaston, Birmingham

  • Vs Bangladesh, Tuesday 2 July, Edgbaston, Birmingham

  • Vs Sri Lanka, Saturday 6 July, Headingley, Leeds

Squad

Virat Kohli (capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav.

Key players

Jasprit Bumrah is ranked as the best bowler in the ICC rankings and showed last year that his unconventional bowling can be destructive in English conditions.

Captain

What else is there to say about Virat Kohli? The best batsman in the world already has a World Cup winners medal in his collection but winning this as captain will surely top the lot. The ease at which he puts together big scored no matter what is being thrown his way has made him stand out and this summer is likely to be no different.

The India captain is the best batsman in the world (EPA)
The India captain is the best batsman in the world (EPA)

One to watch

In his relatively short ODI career, Hardik Pandya has shown he can consistently take wickets while maintaining a respectable average with the bat. The prolific T20 player has had no difficulty converting into a fine ODI player since making his international one-day debut in 2016 and produced some very promising form to help India to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in London in 2017.

Odds to win

3/1

Prediction

This India team will take some stopping when everything is in full-flow, or even when they’re slightly below their best. The key to beating them will be to expose the reliance on Kohli, although there is certainly enough talent to prove this dependence is a thing of the past.