Cricket World Cup team guide: India in the spotlight

India are favourites for many to win the Cricket World Cup, their first on home soil since 2011.

And considering that the host nation has won the last three editions of this competition, it is hard to argue with the fact that they are the team to beat.

Yet it is the weight of expectation that seems to have prevented a team featuring several stars of the game from progressing beyond the semi-finals in either 2015 or 2019.

That pressure will only increase with millions of expectant fans on their doorstep and whether they can cope could decide their fate.

Squad

India's 15-player World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

Fixtures

October 8, 9.30am: Australia (Chennai)

October 11, 9.30am: Afghanistan (Delhi)

October 14, 9.30am: Pakistan (Ahmedabad)

October 19, 9.30am: Bangladesh (Pune)

October 22, 9.30am: New Zealand (Dharamshala)

October 29, 8.30am: England (Lucknow)

November 2, 8.30am: Sri Lanka (Mumbai)

November 5, 8.30am: South Africa (Kolkata)

November 12, 8.30am: Netherlands (Bangalore)

The skipper

It was not long ago that Rohit Sharma seemed to be feeling the effects of burnout after playing all formats of cricket for India as well as captaining the Mumbai Indians for several years.

But the skipper seems to have recovered his form as his country's full-time captain and leads his side into this competition in decent shape.

Sharma is his country's sixth-highest all-time one-day international run-scorer and racked up the highest total in the format's history, 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014.

He has made half-centuries in three of his last four innings and has a win rate of over 72% as captain after leading his side to the Asia Cup title earlier this month.

One to watch: Kuldeep Yadav

A turbulent career seems to be peaking at just the right time for Kuldeep Yadav, who is his side's first-choice spinner heading into his home World Cup.

The mystery left-armer has lost his way over the last three or four years, falling below Ravi Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in the pecking order despite his enormous potential.

But he has made himself indispensable during a stellar 2023, taking more ODI wickets than any other player at the World Cup (31) at a stunning average of just 15.51.

And captain Sharma is excited by the impact he could have on the tournament.

He said after the Asia Cup final win over Sri Lanka: "Kuldeep has bowled superbly.

"Under pressure, whenever he's had the chance to bowl, he has picked up a lot of crucial wickets. 

"He's brought the team back from tough situations, which is a good quality. As a team if we have such a quality bowler, it feels great."