Team India’s World Cup Campaign will begin on June 5, 2019, against South Africa in Southampton. Given that the Indian team has spent a considerable amount of time in England, they might be in a better position to assess the English conditions and prepare for the big challenges that lie ahead of them.

In the two practice matches ahead of their World Cup Campaign, India produced contrasting results. While they seemed to have no answer to New Zealand’s seam bowling in the first encounter, the second match against Bangladesh was a much-improved performance from the Indian side as they secured a convincing win by 95 runs.

Although results are not that important in the Warm Up Games, there were a few unanswered questions that India was looking to answer in these games. While a few were answered, for instance, the mystery around the No 4 Spot, quite a few questions and concerns remained unanswered post the Warm Up Games.

Virat Kohli and the team management would look to plug in these gaps before their opening clash.

1 Out of form openers

Much of India’s batting power is at the top of the order, thanks to the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, along with No 3 Virat Kohli. Team India’s bulk of runs have come from the top of the order.

However, the recent form of the opening batsmen has not been impressive. Not only was their series against Australia poor, but Rohit also struggled with the bat even in the IPL while Dhawan himself only had an average season. In the Warm-Up Games too, the duo struggled to get going and was dismissed cheaply.

Indian team management and fans alike will be hoping for a much-improved performance from the duo as a lot of India’s World Cup hopes revolve around the opening duo’s form and the foundation they lay for the middle order.

2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s barren run of play

Being India’s most prolific white-ball bowler since the last couple of years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has seen a dunk in form recently. Luckily for India, his loss of form coincided with the resurgence of Mohammad Shami – the white-ball bowler, which meant that it didn’t cost India too many games.

However, in England, conditions will be different. Jasprit Bumrah will lead India’s pace attack and looks set to open the bowling with Shami if India decides to play just two quick bowlers in the match.

In seam-friendly conditions, where an extra seamer can be a major plus, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return to form is crucial to India’s performance as he has the rare ability to swing the ball both the ways, a vital weapon to have in the armoury.

3 Injury Scare

Kedar Jadhav’s injury has been another concern for India’s World Cup mission. The 34-year-old injured himself while fielding for Chennai Super Kings in the last league game against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019. Subsequently, he missed CSK’s matches in the knockouts stages.

In spite of the injury concerns, he was named in India’s 15-man World Cup squad. However, with Jadhav missing out on both the Warm-Up games because of the injury, it would be interesting to note if India is willing to play him straight away in the crucial World Cup clash against South Africa without him having any game practice in the UK whatsoever.

Virat too was hurt on his thumb while training at the nets. Luckily for Indian fans though, he has been cleared of any serious injury concerns and is likely to be available for the selection in India’s World Cup opener.