India 'One Of The Favourites' To Win 2019 World Cup, Says Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid, the former India captain, has high hopes from Virat Kohli's Team India at the upcoming World Cup 2019. Rahul Dravid said that he expects India to hit peak form during the marquee event starting on 30 May in England and Wales. "I think India are playing very good cricket at the moment and go in as one of the favourites," Dravid was quoted as saying by icc-cricket.com on Thursday on the sidelines of India A's series against England Lions.

"Hopefully, we will peak in the next few months," Dravid added.

India go into the quadrennial tournament with One-day International (ODI) series wins in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

In 2018, India secured series wins against South Africa and the Windies, and won the Asia Cup as well.

Moreover, India began the World Cup year on a high by comprehensively beating Australia and New Zealand.

The last time the 50-over World Cup was held in England, in 1999, Dravid was the top-scorer with 461 runs.

India A and India Under 19 head coach Dravid said the 2019 event will be different from the last time because the pitches in England are now batting-friendly.

"Wickets will be very flat in England and I expect it to be quite a high-scoring World Cup. When we (India A) were in England with A team, 300 was regularly scored," Dravid said.

"A lot more runs will be scored compared to the 1999 World Cup, where we used the Dukes white ball. The white Kookaburra with two new balls, revised field restrictions (three Powerplays as opposed to mandatory 15-over restrictions in 1999) are different, so you can't compare the two World Cups," Dravid concluded.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli MS Dhoni Rahul Dravid Cricket World Cup 2019