"India have a very good chance of winning World Cup" - Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly backs India to lift the World Cup once again

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, on Friday, said that he considers India to be one of the strongest contenders to lift the 2015 World Cup, which begins on February 14. India are current defending champions, having won the 2011 edition in the subcontinent, and they should be well-placed to mount a strong title challenge as they have been in Australia for quite some time now and should be fully acclimatized to the conditions by the time the marquee event starts.

Speaking on the sidelines of a book reading event, Ganguly said: “India have a very good chance of winning the World Cup. I’m not saying this just because there’s media. I think whenever you play one-day cricket India will always have a chance.”

India struggled during the recently-concluded Australia Tests, losing the four-match series 2-0 with the bowlers being unable to pick 20 Australian wickets even once during the series. But Ganguly backed the bowlers to do well in a format where saving runs is a bigger priority than taking wickets.

"You look at the batting, they have a strong line-up. Moreover, ODIs are a lot easier than Test cricket so bowlers will also do well," the 42-year-old opined.

India’s 15-man squad for the World Cup was announced on January 6, and while most of the selections were as expected, a couple of picks ended up causing a lot of debate as usual. The former left-handed batsman insisted that this was the best 15 the Indian selectors could have picked and expected them to put up a much better showing than in the Test matches.

"I've earlier said this is the best possible team at the moment. They have to play well now. They are a much better one-day team than the Tests," he concluded.