Team India

TEAM INDIA

The Indian cricket team played it's first match in 1932 at lord's against England, hence, granted the Test status and with this became the Sixth Test playing Nation.

Indian Team of 1932

The BCCI(Board of control for cricket in India) takes control of all the cricketing action which involves Team India.

BCCI 

Since then, this team had produced legends like Sunil Gavaskar,Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly to name a few.

Sunil Gavaskar

Sachin Tendulkar

This team has seen ups and downs as it progresses through the different periods; won Two 50-over World Cup; Inaugural T20 World Cup;

1983 World Cup Winners

2011 ODI Winners

Inaugural T20 Champions

Two times champions trophy winners (Once jointly with Sri Lanka) and became Number 1 in ICC's Test Rankings.

Champions Trophy in 2013

Number ONE in Test Rankings

Players of Indian Team got involved in various controversies including Match Fixing.

Why this team is regarded as one of the top contenders to win the title?

The team is looking relaxed and settled. There aren't many spots left to grab through IPL (Just to be played before World Cup starts). The openers are confirmed (Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan) along with their back up (KL Rahul). Virat Kohli,The Team's Captain and Best player is at crucial Number 3. Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik along with MS Dhoni will play 4,5,6 respectively.

Then All-rounder at number 7 is Hardik Pandya with Vijay Shankar being his back up. Two leg spinners namely Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal along with Ravindra jadeja who bowls left arm orthodox forms the spin bowling department. The pace battery which used to be India's worry for a long period of time is also showing tremendous amount of confidence this time with the likes of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav along with the world's best bowler right now Jasprit Bumrah forms the quick bowling combination.

So, with almost all places are confirmed and the combination of the team looks settled. This really makes the Indian Team Hot Favourites for the World Cup.

Favourites for Cricket World cup

The cricket world cup is one of the most celebrated and viewed sports event across the globe. Although, it comprises of handful of nations(ICC is trying to globalise it) and more so from Asian continent as of now; where the craze for cricket is imponderable and where the huge market is dominated by cricket. The Cricket world cup gives the nations and their fans  a chance to come together and celebrate this event as a festival.
This time it is going to take place in England and Wales after 20 years. The format is also very interesting, round robin(each team will play the other team) and then top four teams on point basis progress towards the knockout stage and then the winners of semifinals will play the final.
According to the current scenario, the best two teams and strong favourites for the world cup are the home team England and the most balanced team India. South Africa, Australia,New Zealand,Pakistan and Sri Lanka will provide tough competition with windies resurgence and Bangladesh on their day can beat any of them will be a good tournament to watch for. The youngest test playing nation Afghanistan has the capability and the talent to surprise any of the top teams with their quality spinners.
The two strong favourites India and England along with South Africa and Pakistan are my four semi finalists. England obviously playing at home and playing the aggressive brand of cricket with four all-rounders which allows them to have depth both in batting and bowling makes them pretty dangerous. India on the other hand, carries the best bowling attack along with 3 best batsmen in ODI cricket at the top of the order. The only worry is middle order which is sorting out as well. South Africa probabily the most experienced side of all, AB retiring last year's is a huge dent but they discovered to fulfill that role, the bowling as always will be their strong point. Pakistan bring uncertainty on their day can beat any team and vice versa they can also loose to any team but their recent performance in ODI cricket against South Africa shows they have the talent and can make things interesting going forward as well. They rely heavily on their left arm quicks and with leg spinner also in artillery they are also making a strong case.
And the interesting thing is that the last two world cups are won by the hosting teams will England be able to continue this streak, we will surely have to wait until the final result which is to be played at the Mecca of cricket "LORD'S".