It is box-ticking time for the teams in the World Cup, and a chance to correct selection mistakes made earlier. England’s decision to include Harry Brook, initially out of the squad, and the possible return of Ravichandran Ashwin are two such cases. It is also a time to reevaluate recent form just days ahead of the tournament.
India’s annihilating triumph in the Asia Cup — played in somewhat similar conditions to the one for the World Cup — means that they have established themselves as favourites in a tournament they last won at home in 2011. Virat Kohli alone survives from that final.
In sport, it is marginally easier for teams which have won before to do so again; perhaps it has to do with familiarity or understanding of what it takes. At any rate, India are the best team in the world right now, and when in full flow one of the great sights of the game.
