CWC 2019: Three reasons why India might not win the World Cup this year

The mega event for this year is approaching really quick and most of the teams have announced their squads for the World Cup. India too have announced their squad and there was no surprises there barring the exclusion of Ambati Rayudu but given how he had been performing recently, even that seemed to be on the cards.

A lot of cricketing personalities, captains, former players etc have stated that England and India are the two favourites to win the World Cup this year. Both teams have been undeniably good since the Champions Trophy. While England haven't lost a series since then, India have lost two - one to England in England and one to Australia at home.

As India prepare for the World Cup, there seems to be have occurred quite some issues like the inexperience of Vijay Shankar etc. There are a few factors that might hinder India from winning the World Cup. Let us have a look at three reasons why India may not win the World Cup 2019.

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#3 Out of form players

4-5 players in the squad have been woefully out of form

Virat Kohli and co. had clearly stated that the squad selected for the World Cup will not be selected on the basis of IPL performances. It was quite evident from the squad selection that they did go by their words. However, looking back at it now, was it a wise decision to make?

There have been a couple of players who have been woefully out of form recently. These include not only batsmen but bowlers and all-rounders too. Although, there is no denying the fact that the World Cup has a completely different format of the game, if players are out of form, they carry it on to different formats of the game.

India's premier spinner's form is one of the biggest concerns for the team management right now. Kuldeep Yadav has had a terrible time in the IPL so far. He has been read by batsmen very easily and has been hit centre left and right. He has held the second worst figures in the IPL so far and has gone for more than 25 runs an over at times. His bowling average is one of the worst amongst all the bowlers and bowlers who have played just two matches have picked up as many wickets as him whereas he has played nine innings.

Another player who has been out of form is Rohit Sharma. He has scored just 228 runs this season averaging just about 25. However, what is more worrying than his average is that he hasn't crossed the 50 run mark even once this IPL. He is one of the most reliable batsmen of the team and the management would want him to find his form back.

Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav have also been out of form. While the KKR captain averages just about 15, his strike rate isn't something great either. Though he did knock up a 97* in his last game, he needs to more consistent.

Kedar Jadhav too has just averaged 22 this season and with the number of failures the top order has had in his team, he should have scored a lot more runs than he has and he has been a complete failure in the Chennai middle order. He received a lot of opportunities but failed to make it big in any one of them.

Shankar too has had a horrid time. He started off well in the IPL scoring 40* against KKR but since then he has played 8 matches and has registered 4 single scores in them.

With the current form of players, the team does not look to be winning the cup as the onus will be just on 2-3 players again which cannot get a team a cup in a format like the round-robin format which requires a lot of consistency.

#2 No home support

The last time India won the cup was when they had home support

Let us face the truth. A big reason why India won the 2011 World Cup was that it was held in India. There is nothing like home support and that factor will go a long way in hindering India's chances for this World Cup.

What makes the challenge even bigger is that the home team is absolute favourites for the cup this year. England have been an absolutely top team in the past two years. They have not lost a single ODI series in the past year and a half. They have an impressive record at home and there is no way they will not make use of the home support.

India meanwhile does not have a good record in England. They lost the ODI series that they played in 2018 and even lost the Test series. They even had to drop a couple of players in the current squad because of their inability to play well.

More than conditions, it is the support that you get from the crowd that matters. Though there is no denying that India will get quite some support from the crowd, if there happens to be a semi final or knock out kind of a match between India and England, there is no question as to whom the crowd will support and that is something that sometimes brings the morale of the team down which does not help in their performance either.

England meanwhile have made full use of their home conditions. They have picked up a squad suited to their home grounds. They have a batting heavy and power packed squad and that will help them a long way in winning the cup.

#1 Inability in adjusting to swinging conditions

All these three batsmen have trouble in swinging conditions

4, 13, 8, 10, 23.

These were KL Rahul's first five scores in the series versus England. The record just goes on to show how much he struggles in the seaming conditions. To make matters worse, neither of India's openers have a good record there.

Rohit Sharma did get a good century in the first ODI but he was horrible in the rest of the matches. Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the Test team due to his inability to counter swing and Rahul's weakness with the in-swinging ball in not unknown.

Another player who has really struggled in England is MS Dhoni. He had a poor outing in the Champions Trophy and even though he racked up some runs in the series against England, they were at a very slow strike rate and that is something that does not help the team.

The only player who has very good technical capabilities against swing is Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya too to an extent. However, a team cannot rely on only one or two players to win them all the matches and this is one big reason, India will not win the World Cup this year.

Though people are saying that India are favourites this year, there is no doubt they will be one of the best teams in the tournament but past records and these reasons will be a big factor and may result in India losing the cup.