Cricket World Cup 2015: Holders India up against it

CRICKET WORLD CUP

GROUP B

INDIA + SOUTH AFRICA + PAKISTAN + WEST INDIES + 

ZIMBABWE + IRELAND + UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

INDIA
ICC World ranking 2
Coach Duncan Fletcher
Captain MS Dhoni (wk)
Rest of squad Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (vc), Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny
World Cup best Winners 1983, 2011
Recent ODI form LWW|WWWWW|LLL|LW
Holders India have been in Australia for months now, preparing to defend their second World Cup title on pitches completely alien to those featured in their spectacular 2011 success at home. It was an undoubtedly sensible plan to head Down Under early to acclimatise but, still, it was not one which was guaranteed to go well.
And it has not gone well. Since their arrival in Australia, India have played nine matches across all formats, and won precisely one. Even that was just a warm-up match against Afghanistan. Defeats have not only come against Australia either, with the Indians twice flopping badly against England in the Tri-series. It really comes as no surprise then that some bookmakers rate them as no better than 12/1 shots.
Still, the World Cup format nowadays is massively forgiving and, for all their poor form, it is impossible to envisage the knockout stages taking place without India. A tough start awaits against Pakistan and South Africa - but then the Indians' final four games are against UAE, West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe. 
Coincidentally, the long, drawn-out format of the group phase - as well as being there to suckle on the teat of television rights - is effectively a consequence of the 2007 tournament ending in a pool stage disaster for the ICC. India and Pakistan both went out after just three games in mini groups of four - and so the administrator lost its two biggest markets. That simply could not be allowed to happen again - and, as if to prove this point, tickets for the India v Pakistan clash in Adelaide on the opening night in Group B were snapped up in just 12 minutes. It is a fixture in which India have done historically well in the past - and, like Pakistan below, the outcome may decide the mood music for the Indians' whole tournament.
Prediction: Quarter finals

SOUTH AFRICA
ICC World ranking 3
Coach Russell Domingo
Captain AB de Villiers (wk)
Rest of squad Hashim Amla (vc), Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn
World Cup best Semi finals 1992, 1999, 2007
Recent ODI form WW|LWLLL|WWWLW|WL
South Africa could easily argue to have had the best side never to have won a World Cup. The England vintage of 1992 would no doubt put up a fight - but, even now, repeats of the Proteas' final over of the tied semi final against Australia at Edgbaston in 1999 still seem pretty astonishing.
Nine wickets down and requiring nine runs off the final six balls, Lance Klusener got the South Africans off to the perfect start with boundaries from the first two deliveries. Just a single was needed off the final four balls - but the third ball nearly ended in a run-out and the fourth did end up in one as Klusener ran an attempted single with number 11 Allan Donald frozen to the spot. Australia had finished higher in the Super Six table than South Africa due to a superior net run rate, and thus went through to face an inferior Pakistan side for a second World Cup win. It was a devastating defeat for South Africa.
It was also 16 years ago, however - so why is it still important now? Well, ever since that match, every South African side has had to face up to a reputation of them being chokers in tight matches. It is not entirely unfair - in 2003, they also went out after a miscalculation in a tied match in the group stages, and in 2007, they lost to the Aussies in the semis again. 
Last time out, they did not even make it that far after a collapse to New Zealand in the quarters - but, this time, the in-form Proteas look best-placed to challenge the two antipodean hosts. Skipper AB de Villiers is probably the best batsman in the world right now although, if anything, a bowling attack featuring Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander is the stronger hand. Weaknesses include the reliance on Imran Tahrir for spin - oh, and the hitherto unforeseen knack of South Africa being able to hold their nerve.
Prediction: Runners-up

PAKISTAN
ICC World ranking 7
Coach Waqar Younis
Captain Misbah ul-Haq
Rest of squad Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi (vc), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz
World Cup best Winners 1992
Recent ODI form LLL|WLWLL|LL|WW
Perhaps far too much can be made of one match in a tournament which has the potential to last seven weeks. However, Pakistan's historical failure to beat their great rivals India at the World Cup is something which simply cannot be ignored ahead of their opening day clash in Adelaide. 
The most recent defeat - in the semi finals four years ago - was particularly painful as, not only did it deny Pakistan a place in the final, it came in a tournament in which hosting rights had been stripped from the country for security reasons, even if those concerns had been justifiable following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009. 
For the record, India have beaten Pakistan in all five occasions that the match has been played at the World Cup, with all five contests coming since 1992. Indeed, the only World Cup since then not to feature India beating Pakistan at some stage was in 2007 when both teams were separately humbled in the group stages. Such an outcome will not happen this time as both teams are easily good enough to qualify - but this adds yet still further intensity into the opening match. 
Pakistan can feel confident - they are in much better form than the holders - and, in terms of the wider picture, finally burying the hoodoo would also likely have a positive snowball effect for the following three fixtures against West Indies, Zimbabwe, and UAE.
By game five, then, Misbah ul-Haq's still-developing team could be on quite a roll - though it would take something else again for this side to match their compatriots' achievement on the last occasion that the World Cup was held in Australasia. Pakistan's surprise win over England in 1992 remains their only World Cup win to date.
Prediction: Semi finals

WEST INDIES
ICC World ranking 8
Coach Richie Richardson
Captain Jason Holder
Rest of squad Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor
World Cup best Winners 1975, 1979
Recent ODI form WLL|LLLWL|LW
Ah, where do you start with the West Indies? Well, frankly, Windies cricket is in another fine mess. It is hardly a sentence which has not been written plenty of time over the last few years but it is sadly just as true now as it was on those countless prior occasions. 
The source of the current problems lies in the aborted tour of India last year, caused by a contracts dispute between the squad - led by then-captain Dwayne Bravo - and the West Indies Cricket Board. Following an embarrassing stand-off, one of the main outcomes was the dismissal of Bravo and fellow-instigator Kieron Pollard from the squad. 
It now means the Windies arrive at the World Cup with their youngest ever captain, 23-year-old Jason Holder - and even he has admitted Pollard and Bravo not making the trip is a "huge loss" to his team's chances.
Already, the Windies are playing a little like a beaten team. Thrashed by England in their first warm-up, Holder's men just held enough together to squeeze past Scotland by three runs in the second. Up next comes a fixture against Ireland which, although the first of six games, could be the difference between a slightly redemptive quarter finals spot and a further soiling of the islands' once glorious cricket prestige. West Indies need to change the way the wind is blowing - and fast.
Prediction: Group stage

ZIMBABWE
ICC World ranking 10
Coach Dav Whatmore
Captain Elton Chigumbura
Rest of squad Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva (wk), Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams
World Cup best Super Sixes 1999, 2003
Recent ODI form LLLLL|W
Zimbabwe have lost more World Cup matches in history than any other team - and that tally of 37 will surely increase further in the next few weeks after a bumpy build-up to this edition. Like England with their captain, the Zimbabwe board waited until just eight weeks before the start of this tournament before deciding the position of head coach Stephen Mangongo was no longer tenable following a 5-0 ODI humiliation at the hands of Bangladesh.
His replacement - the experienced Dav Whatmore - has agreed to lead the team through the World Cup with a view to extending his contract after a tournament which he won in 1996 with Sri Lanka. It would probably be the greatest shock ever in sport if he repeated the feat with Zimbabwe but the motivation for this squad of players could not be clearer.
Unlikely ever to be able to bring back their heyday of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Zimbabwe twice reached the Super Six stage, Australian Whatmore could nonetheless make this side more respectable than it has been over the last few years. Already there have been some positive signs of a response - their only completed World Cup warm-up was an excellent seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka - but the men in red must now do it when it counts.
Prediction: Group stage

IRELAND
ICC World ranking 12
Coach Phil Simmons
Captain William Porterfield
Rest of squad Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, John Mooney, Max Sorenson, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien (wk), Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson (wk), Craig Young
World Cup best Super Eights 2007
Recent ODI form WWL|LLW
For a country still restricted to Associate status, Ireland have a better recent World Cup pedigree than their group rivals Zimbabwe: in 2007, the Irish reached the last eight after tying against the Zimbabweans and beating Pakistan - and then, last time out, Kevin O'Brien hit the fastest World Cup century to bamboozle England. Moreover, throughout this period, the Irish have generally been accepted as the strongest of the Associate teams, winning four out of the five Intercontinental Cups held between 2005 and 2013.
This time, the fixture computer has again rightly given Ireland hope of further success with an opening match against a ramshackle West Indies ahead of a game against the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, United Arab Emirates. Looking further onwards, the fourth match against Zimbabwe is also winnable if the Irish are to prove their worth in this tournament as a nation capable of playing Test cricket.
A word of warning, however: recent form has not been too good with a couple of warm-up defeats coming against Scotland, and another to Sydney club side Randwick Petersham. Nonetheless, the convincing win yesterday over full member Bangladesh will have provided a heartening boost for the squad with Ireland well aware that they must deliver from the start.
Prediction: Quarter finals

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ICC World ranking 14
Coach Aaqib Javed
Captain Mohammed Tauqir
Rest of squad Khurram Khan (vc), Swapnil Patil (wk), Saqlain Haider (wk), Amjad Javed, Shaiman Anwar, Amjad Ali, Nasir Aziz, Rohan Mustafa, Manjula Guruge, Andri Berenger, Fahad Al Hashmi, Muhammad Naveed, Kamran Shahzad, Krishna Chandran
World Cup best Group stages 1996
Recent ODI form WWLW|LL
United Arab Emirates have reached the World Cup finals for the first time in 19 years - and for only the second time ever - after finishing runners-up to Scotland in the final of the ICC World Cup qualifier. Old enough to recall the UAE's last venture into the finals are captain Mohammed Tauqir and vice captain Khurram Khan who, both aged 43, will be the oldest players at this tournament.
Both will still be some way short of the World Cup record - held by Dutch batsman Nolan Clarke - which stands at 47 years, 257 days. That record has stood since 1996 when Clarke played, and was out for a duck, as UAE beat Netherlands in their only ever World Cup win. UAE have never beaten a full member nation, however - and it would therefore be a surprise if they broke their own duck in this regard in the next four weeks.
Prediction: Group stage