India Start 2019 World Cup As Favourites, Says Aakash Chopra

Former India batsman Aakash Chopra has declared India would start the 2019 World Cup as favourites. 

There is no denying that India will be one of the strong favourites to lift the World Cup, scheduled to be held in England next year. With the team doing extremely well in ODIs, hopes will be sky high when the players fly to England next year to reclaim the World Cup trophy the team had won in 2011.

Virat Kohli has led the team admirably ever since replacing the legendary MS Dhoni as skipper in 2017. In his first series, he led India to a win over England. In the summer of 2017, India made it to the final of Champions Trophy which was interestingly held in England. The Men in Blue then beat Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand to end the year on a high.

Earlier this year, Kohli led India to their first-ever ODI bilateral series win in South Africa.

Moreover, India also enjoys a good track record in ICC tournaments held in England. They won their first-ever World Cup in England in 1983. In 2013, MS Dhoni led the team to the Champions Trophy glory.

And Aakash Chopra believes India will be the favourites for next year’s showpiece event.

“This team has a lot of things going in its favour. The bowling is outstanding and you have got some of the finest batsmen. So a lot of things are in India’s favour and hopefully England will be nice and accommodating for us as it has happened in the past — the two Champions Trophies (finalist in 2017 and winner in 2013), so hopefully we will be able to pick up the World Cup,” Chopra said while speaking on the sidelines of the World Cup Trophy Tour Driven By Nissan Kicks.

As far as the team-combination is concerned, Chopra feels India has all but finalised on the squad. He also said that Ambati Rayudu has sealed his spot at number four.

“We tried a dozen batsman at [the No. 4 spot] but now it feels that Ambati [Rayudu] has sealed the deal. His boarding pass in my opinion is already printed for that flight to England. At No. 4, I see him batting in England (at the World Cup) unless something drastic happens in the meantime, which I don’t think will happen,” said Chopra.

“With Ambati already at No. 4, there’s not many place up for grabs. And this shows, that the team is settled,” he added.

Meanwhile, England will take on South Africa in the opener on May 30, 2019, at The Oval in London. The tournament will last for 45 days with 48 matches to be played. India will start their campaign against the Proteas on June 5.  The format for the 2019 edition will see 10 best teams in the world going head-to-head in a round-robin format. The tournament will culminate with the fifth final at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 14.