Team Profile, India: Virat Kohli Leads Crack Outfit That Is One Of The Favourites For The Trophy

India have been World Cup champions on two occasions - the famous 1983 win, when they were rank outsiders and the title in 2011, when MS Dhoni led India to almost an inevitable crown. India were runners-up in 2003 and made the semi-finals in 1987, 1996, and 2015. As for the World Cup 2019, India are being carded as one of the favourites to pick up the trophy.

Virat Kohli (captain)

Kohli has been in brilliant form over the past two ODI seasons, with 1833 runs in the 2017-18 season, averaging a whopping 97.5, with a strike rate of 98.84. In this season, he has 1255 runs, averaging 69.83, with a strike rate of 96.185.

This will be Kohli's 3rd consecutive World Cup, with 587 runs in 17 matches, averaging 41.92 with his best score being 107 vs Pakistan in 2015.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit's performance in the past two ODI seasons has been remarkable, with 1463 runs in year 2017-18 at an average of 64.655 and a strike rate of 96.605. His 2018-19 numbers are equally impressive -- 1416 runs averaging 76.63 with a strike rate of 93.34. He also scored a mammoth 208 not out against Sri Lanka on Dec 13, 2017.

Rohit had a brilliant 2015 World Cup, where he scored 330 runs at an average of 47.14, his highest score of 137 coming against Bangladesh in the quarter-final.

Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan's performances in the 2017-18 season were brilliant, where he scored 1271 runs with an average of 55.6 at a strike rate of 102.985. However, his numbers fall a tad in 2018-19 with 994 runs coming at a strike rate of 96.635 with an average of 44.52.

Dhawan had an impressive 2015 World Cup, scoring 412 runs at an average of 51.5, his highest score being 137 against South Africa.

KL Rahul

Rahul is known more for his skills in Test cricket and he has been in and out of the ODI squad since his debut against Zimbabwe in 2016 where he scored a century. He has 343 runs in 14 games with an average of 34.3, striking at 80.89.

This is KL Rahul's first World Cup.

Vijay Shankar

Shankar made his ODI debut in January 2018 against Australia. While he hasn't done anything of note on the international front, his form in the IPL has been very good, with 452 runs in 26 matches, averaging 34.76 with a strike rate of 134.52. His best score is 63 came against Gujarat Lions.

This is Vijay Shankar's first World Cup.

MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni in recent times has been in decent form, with 692 runs in the 2017-18 season at an average of 80.995, with a strike rate of 81.535. His form in 2018-19 was a little less exuberant as he scored 533 at an average of 39.925, striking at 71.515.

Dhoni is the most experienced member of this squad, with this being his 4th World Cup, which he famously won in 2011.

Kedar Jadhav

The past two seasons have been fairly good for Jadhav, where he scored 330 runs in the 17-18 season, striking at 96.555 with an average of 28.17. He improved in the current season, scoring 376 runs averaging 60.5, with his strike rate going down to 89.695.

This is Kedar Jadhav's first World Cup.

Dinesh Karthik

Making a surprise comeback, Karthik brings with him a wealth of experience of a career that spans 15 years. His recent form has brought him into contention, with an average of 58.75 striking at 70.905 in the 17/18 season while his strike rate increased to 86.12 subsequently.

This is Dinesh Karthik's first World Cup.

Yuzvendra Chahal

Making his debut in 2016 against Zimbabwe, Chahal's rise through the ranks has been meteoric, with 72 wickets in 41 ODIs at an economy rate of 4.89. His best figures are 6-42 against Australia on January 18 this year.

This is Yuzvendra Chahal's first World Cup.

Kuldeep Yadav

The young chinaman bowler has been amazing for India since he made his ODI debut against the West Indies in 2017. He has 87 wickets in 44 matches, with an economy rate of 4.93. His best spell is 6-25 against England at July 12, 2018, helping India win by eight wickets with nine overs to spare.

This is Kuldeep Yadav's first World Cup.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar has been on very good form for quite a while. He took 29 wickets at games in the previous season, with an economy rate of 5.01, his personal best of 5-42 against Sri Lanka coming in September 2017. His 18-19 season saw him do just as well, with 28 wickets at an economy of 4.97.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar played only one game in the 2015 World Cup, against the UAE.

Hardik Pandya

Hardik has turned out to become one of India's best all-rounders, with 731 runs in ODIs at a strike rate of 116.58 averaging at 29.24 as well as 44 wickets at an economy of 5.53.

This is Hardik Pandya's first World Cup.

Ravindra Jadeja

While Jadeja can certainly be reliable with the bat, his contributions in ODIs in the recent past have been more with the ball. He has taken 27 wickets in the past 25 games, with an economy rate of 4.91, with his best figures being 4-29 against Bangladesh in September 2018.

Jadeja was part of the 2015 World Cup squad, taking nine wickets in eight games at an economy of 5.35.

Mohammed Shami

One of India's leading seam-ball exponents, Shami was absent for most parts of 2017. He has however done well in the 2018-19 season, with 22 wickets in 13 games at an economy rate of 5.45.

Shami had a good 2015 World Cup, with 17 wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 4.81, his best being 4-35 against Pakistan.

Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah has become India's strike bowler, since he made the squad against Australia on January 2016. He has 85 wickets in 49 games with an economy of 4.51, with a personal best of 5-27 against Sri Lanka at August 2017.

This will be Jasprit Bumrah's first World Cup.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli World Cup 2019 Cricket