And the Winner is ....

 

The Cricket World Cup is set to begin tomorrow in the Indian Sub-continent (yay!!). The thrill,tension and the smell of victory - all possible this world cup. There are no clear favorites this time. With the defending champions,Australia, already being proven beatable the tournament has just become more entertaining to say the least. So who has the best chance to win this world cup rather who are deserving to be the last four in the tournament?

1. India - Tipped as the "Favorites" to win the world cup this time around.  After the last World Cup (Indian) disaster I can't seem to put them up as a definite finalists. They have the best batting line-up of all the teams. In fact they must make some batsmen rest in order to fit in some bowlers. I'll leave the team selection to the Indian cricket team :D. But what anyone seem to see is that History is against India. A cruel fact of a Cricket World Cup is that a host nation has never lifted the coveted trophy before.(Sri Lanka in 1996 is considered to be played in India). I think,of the last 4 world cups, India has the best chance to win the WC this time with a powerful batting line-up and tremendous fan support at Home.  Also the entire team is motivated to win the World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar (they still think he will retire after this world cup).As they say records are meant to be broken. May India be Victorius.
2. South Africa - The "Chokers" are yet again one of the favorites to win the WC. They have a well balanced team. With batsmen like G Smith and Amla to start the proceedings,Duminy/Kallis to spice things up and Steyn to finish the remaining job ,it must indeed be a easy tournament for them. But huge trophies have always eluded them. Though they have performed very well in India against the Indians too nothing can be promised from them. But they can deliver if it is their day.
3. Sri Lanka - They are a team who perform like a team. Everyone of the playing eleven might not be a match winner but as a team they have played some good cricket against other teams. You cannot write-off these guys. They will also use the Home advantage. What they lack is consistent performance. Who knows they might clinch a thriller and repeat the 1996 feat.
4. Australia - yes they are beatable but they sure have some fighting spirit. Whenever they are pushed down they have the tendency to perform and prove their critics wrong. After the Ashes thrashing, everyone is bantering about Ponting and his men. If Ponting is looking for redemption then right now is the right time. With none of the stalwarts,from the last decade, who made them look invincibles ,ponting has a steep hill to climb if he has to win this one.

Whatever said you can never predict a world cup until the finish. Like before we can see Kenya (or someone else) in the semis but if everything goes according to the paper then the above 4 teams should have it easy against the rest. It is already reported that match and groups are designed to favor some specific teams. So I guess there might not be any surprises in the end. Every senior player will be definitely looking forward to finish their careers on a high. Everyone wants to Win the World Cup. 

All my hopes ride on the Indian team. They have impressed everyone in the warm-up matches. Hope to see more of Helicopter shots,doosras, and the stunning Straight Drives(Sachin) . INDIA for the Win !!