Cricket World Team Guide

Your essential betting guide to all 16 Cricket World Cup teams - use the flags below to view squad lists, team information and a preview of each squad.

	Coach :	Greg Chappell
	Captain :	Rahul Dravid
	Key Player :	Mahendra S Dhoni
	Record :	2003 - Finalists, 1999 - Super Six, 1996 - Semi-finalists, 1992 - First-round losers, 1987 - Semi-finalists, 1983 - Winners, 1979 - Group losers, 1975 - First-round losers

India's golden trio of the past decade - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid - would seem as powerful as ever as the World Cup comes around again.

The three are rightly rated among the greatest one-day players of all time and they form the heart of one of the strongest batting orders in the world.

With the likes of Mahendra Dhoni and possibly Virender Sehwag playing around them, India should not lack runs in the Caribbean.

Each of them have enjoyed glorious careers and created plenty of headlines in their time, but it is arguably the most understated of the powerful triumvirate who provides the key at present.

The sublime Tendulkar has gorged on international bowling attacks for 17 years, while the hard-hitting, equally fast-scoring but controversial Ganguly is back in favour after a year in the wilderness.

Those two have always demanded attention by weight of personally and performance and not surprisingly got their crack at captaincy before the quieter Dravid.

But by dint of his phenomenal record as the unflappable bedrock of the side, Dravid's chance was always likely to come sooner or later.

Amid the exhilarating strokeplay offered by those around him, Dravid's laboured but hefty, and not aesthetically displeasing contributions have often been overlooked.

Yet, it is hard to argue with statistics that boast more than 9,000 Test runs at an average of over 57 and close to 10,000 runs in 300-plus one-day internationals.

The calm assurance he has brought to the captain's role after the volatile tenure of Ganguly has not necessarily led to a greater consistency in results but India's World Cup prospects are certainly in safe hands.

Dravid can always be relied upon to deliver with the bat, particularly if his team-mates struggle. Often has been the time when Dravid has come out to dig his side out of trouble or he has dug in to set up a large total.

But he does not only lead by example, he has proved himself as a smart thinker and capable skipper. His leadership is not only inspirational but cohesive.

He admits the job is not straightforward, with the Indian management taking flak for too much experimentation recently.

Ganguly may have been recalled but the likes of Sehwag and Irfan Pathan have been left out, while other players, such as Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh were tried out.

Dravid has the temperament to take all of this in his stride and believes, with such a large player pool, the approach has been correct to find the best combination for the World Cup.

"As a captain, it's tough," he said. "You have to make tough decisions and explain to the boys why you've done so.

"No-one likes to be told they're dropped, but it's a fact of international cricket that's been going on since day one, and will go on much after I leave the captaincy.

"The management has experience, we senior players have experience, and we try to get the best combination.

"That's part of the game. Eleven guys can play in a team, and 15 in a tournament and, as long as you can explain to someone what the reasons are, despite what anyone has to say, you're doing fine."

Having tried so many players, some will have to be disappointed but the likeable Dravid is not the type whose actions would spark major unrest.

In the unpredictable world of Indian cricket, Dravid is predictably dependable and will take a team to the West Indies in good heart and with the potential to succeed.