India's all-time Cricket World Cup XI

The World Cup is the most looked forward to ODI tournament in cricket. The best teams in the world feature in the marquee event and fight for supremacy in ODI cricket. While West Indies dominated the tournament in the initial editions, Australia has been the team to beat in the last few editions.

Team India has also been a successful team in World Cup history. India won its first World Cup title under the leadership of the great Kapil Dev, beating the invincible looking West Indies in the final in 1983.

Then, after a long wait of 28 years, the Men in Blue won the World Cup on home soil under the charismatic leadership of MS Dhoni. Moreover, Team India is considered to be the top favourite to win the 2019 World Cup too.

Indian players have produced some brilliant individual performances in World Cup history. Considering their World Cup records, here is India's all-time Cricket World Cup XI.

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#1 Sachin Tendulkar (Matches - 45, Runs - 2278, Average - 56.95)

Sachin played a match-winning innings against Pakistan in the semi-final of 2011 World Cup

Sachin Tendulkar has played as many as six World Cup tournaments and is only the second player to do so after the great Javed Miandad.

The legendary batsman has scored 2278 runs in 45 matches at an average of 56.95. Tendulkar was in dazzling form in the 1996 World Cup and played some magnificent innings for the Indian team.

After having a mediocre World Cup in 1999, Tendulkar came back strongly and won the Man of the tournament award after scoring 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup. The little master is still the highest run-scorer in World Cup history.

Tendulkar's dream of winning the coveted trophy was finally fulfilled in 2011 when Team India defeated the Sri Lankans in front of his home crowd at Mumbai.

#2 Sourav Ganguly (Matches - 21, Runs - 1006, Average - 55.88)

Ganguly heaves one on the leg side

Sourav Ganguly will always be remembered for leading the Indian side to the final of the 2003 World Cup. However, the Prince of Kolkata made a name for himself in the previous edition where he scored 183 runs, which still remains the highest individual score by an Indian in the World Cup, against Sri Lanka at Taunton.

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#3 Virat Kohli (Matches - 17, Runs - 587, Average - 41.92)

Kohli celebrates his century against Pakistan

Virat Kohli made a sensational World Cup debut by hitting a ton in the very first match of the 2011 World Cup. Kohli continued making useful contributions from the middle order throughout the 2011 World Cup.

By the time World Cup 2015 arrived, the dashing batsman had grown in stature as an ODI batsman and he once again started the tournament on a high registering a brilliant hundred against arch-rivals Pakistan.

However, he failed to maintain the momentum and couldn't do much in the latter half of the tournament. The current Indian skipper is currently in top form and will want to improve his World Cup record in the upcoming edition.

#4 Rahul Dravid (Matches - 22, Runs - 860, Average - 61.62)

Dravid averages over 60 in World Cup games

Rahul Dravid has represented Team India in 3 World Cups. Despite still finding his feet in ODI cricket in the 1999 edition of the tournament, Dravid finished as the leading run-getter in the tournament with 461 runs to his name.

By the time the World Cup arrived in South Africa four years later, Dravid was one of the best batsmen in the world and chipped in with useful contributions in India's run to the final.

The Wall played some mature knocks in the lower middle-order and provided solidity to the Indian batting line-up. In a selfless act, Dravid also took the wicket-keeping responsibility when the team management wanted to play an extra batsman in the playing XI.

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#5 Yuvraj Singh (Matches - 23, Runs - 738, Batting average - 52.71, Wickets - 20, Bowling average - 23.10)

Yuvraj and Dhoni during 2011 World Cup

Yuvraj Singh is one of India's finest limited-overs cricketers. The southpaw made his World cup debut way back in 2003 as a youngster with an abundance of talent.

Yuvraj was able to do justice to his talent through most parts of his career. However, his pinnacle of World Cup success came in 2011. Yuvraj battled illness and played for his country in that edition.

Apart from his sound batting, Yuvraj chipped in with the ball and helped the team to maintain the balance of the playing XI throughout the tournament. He was named the Player of the tournament in 2011.

#6 MS Dhoni (Wicket-keeper and Captain) (Matches - 20, Runs - 507, Average - 42.25)

Dhoni scored an unbeaten 91 in the finals of the 2011 World Cup

After having a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2007, MS Dhoni led the Indian team in the 10th edition of the tournament. The Indian captain struggled throughout the tournament but came good when it mattered the most.

Chasing a tough target in the final against Sri Lanka, Dhoni, batting at number 5, scoring an unbeaten 91 runs and led his side to World Cup glory. He also played a huge role in India's World Cup campaign in 2015 where the team reached the semi-final.

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#7 Kapil Dev (Matches - 26, Runs - 669, Batting average - 37.16, Wickets - 28 wickets, Bowling average - 31.85)

Kapil Dev scored 175 runs against Zimbabwe in 1983

Kapil Dev has a big hand in the rise of cricket as a sport in India. The Haryana hurricane, as he is famously known, led the Indian team to an unexpected title victory in the 1983 World Cup. Kapil also has a decent record as a player in World Cup matches scoring 669 runs and picking up 28 wickets in 26 matches.

#8 Anil Kumble (Matches - 18, Wickets - 31, Average - 22.83)

Kumble is India's most successful spinner in World Cup

Anil Kumble is India's highest wicket-taker in ODIs. Kumble has proved his mettle in the World Cup too. Jumbo has taken 31 wickets in just 18 World Cup matches he played for India.

He was particularly impressive in the 1996 World Cup that was held in the subcontinent. Kumble was captain Azharuddin's go-to bowler in the 1999 World Cup too.

However, Harbhajan Singh was preferred over Kumble in the 2003 World Cup and 2007 World Cup, and the champion bowler hung up his boots in ODIs after the 2007 World Cup.

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#9 Javagal Srinath (Matches - 34 matches, Wickets - 44 wickets, Average - 27.81)

Srinath's experience came in handy in the 2003 World Cup

Kumble's bowling partner for years, Javagal Srinath, is India's joint highest wicket-taker, along with Zaheer Khan, in the World Cup. Starting as a rookie fast bowler in the 1992 World Cup, Srinath led the Indian pace attack in the 1996, 1999 and 2003 World Cup.

Just before the 2003 World Cup, Srinath earned a surprise comeback in the Indian team and the right-arm pacer made the most of it by bowling some tremendous spells in South Africa.

#10 Zaheer Khan (Matches - 23, Wickets - 44, Average - 20.22)

Zaheer Khan in the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka

Zaheer Khan is India's most successful bowler in World Cup cricket. The left-arm seamer impressed everyone with his pace and aggressive style of bowling in the 2003 World Cup.

Zaheer bettered his performance in the 2011 World Cup. Even though the conditions in India aren't suitable for fast bowling, the experienced Indian pacer finished the tournament as the joint highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets. Zaheer was instrumental in India's title win in the World Cup 2011.

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#11 Ashish Nehra (Matches - 12, Wickets - 18, Average - 22.72)

Nehra decimated England in the 2003 World Cup

Ashish Nehra's international career was marred with injuries. However, he performed exceedingly well in the two World Cup tournaments that he played in. In 2003, Nehra used the swing-friendly conditions of South Africa to his advantage.

His breezy spell of 6 for 23 against England is still considered to be the best bowling performance by an Indian at the World Cup. After missing out on the 2007 World cup, Nehra made a comeback in India's 2011 World Cup squad. He bowled some crucial spells for Team India throughout the course of the tournament.