India vs Afghanistan | In Numbers: All-Round India Tick All Boxes So Far In World Cup

India have had a great start to the ICC World Cup 2019 campaign in England. Along with New Zealand, they are the only team in the competition who are yet to lose a match. The batting has fired and the bowling has been consistent too.

India has won all the three matches (one abandoned against New Zealand) it has played so far in the World Cup. They should exude extra confidence from the fact that they have overcome three tough teams early in the tournament.

More than the victories, it has been the manner in which India has achieved these which makes them one of the favourites to win the tournament.

They beat South Africa by 6 wickets with 15 deliveries remaining, posted 352 for 5 against Australia and overcame them by 36 runs and hammered Pakistan with their third-biggest victory (in terms of runs) – 89 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis Method - in their ODI history with their arch-rivals.

India’s success can be credited to an excellent all-round team effort.

The Best Top 3 in the Tournament

Coupled with that average is the high strike rate – second-best only after England. India’s top 3 batsmen have collectively averaged 84.75 in the three matches they have played in World Cup 2019 so far. That is a touch more than 17 runs per dismissal better than the second-best team on this count – New Zealand. Such has been the domination of India’s top-order in the tournament.

Thus not only are India’s top 3 scoring big runs consistently but also scoring them at a very high rate.

India’s top-order has already registered three hundreds – the same number as England and Australia but in half the number of matches.

Rohit Sharma has been the standout Indian batsman in the tournament. He has aggregated 319 runs in just 3 innings at a stunning average of 159.5. Only Kane Williamson averages higher – 225. Rohit’s exploits include two hundreds and a fifty.

Virat Kohli has also been in good form having already registered two fifties in the tournament.

India have only lost 14 wickets so far in the tournament – i.e they lose approximately 4.67 wickets per match. The average team score for India when the third wicket has fallen has been 241.67 - that is how much their top-order has been in control and dominated the opposition bowlers in the tournament. Apart from the top-order, Hardik Pandya has provided the X-factor to the Indian batting line-up. Batting in the lower-order he has made the most of the limited number of deliveries he has faced so far in the tournament – 89 runs in 53 balls at a strike rate of 167.92.

Chahal the Wicket-Taker and Bhuvneshwar Most Restrictive

India’s bowling average of 32.34 has been the third-best in the World Cup only after New Zealand and England.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been the most threatening Indian bowler so far – he has picked 6 wickets at a strike rate of 27. All his 6 wickets have been of the top-middle order (1-7) – which means that he has dismissed quality opposition batsmen.

Kuldeep Yadav has complemented him well and been more restrictive with an economy rate of 4.75.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the most restrictive Indian bowler in the competition. Out of a total of 136 deliveries, he has bowled as many as 76 – ie 55.88% have been not scored off! This dot-ball percentage is amongst the best in the tournament. That is how good a job he has done in containing the opposition batsmen.

He has been hit for just 9 boundaries in the 22.4 overs he has bowled in the tournament – which means on an average he concedes a boundary only every 2.5 overs – a splendid effort for someone who opens the bowling and bowls at the death.

He has also been brilliant with both, the new and old ball.

Bhuvneshwar has bowled 54 dot balls of a total of 76 balls he has bowled in the first powerplay (1-10 overs) – ie a percentage of 71.05%. He has an economy rate of 3 in this period – which is outstanding, to say the least.

His dot ball percentage of 30.56% and an economy rate of 6.17 at the death (overs 41-50) is also very impressive.

The good news for India is that their ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has yet to hit top gear and yet the team has got the better of the opposition, and rather comprehensively on three occasions. Bumrah has been a touch expensive with an economy rate of 5.28 and has not been able to make a huge impact with the new ball.

Hardik Pandya has done an excellent job as the fifth bowler in terms of restricting the opposition batsmen. He has gone for just 5.95 runs per over.

The loss of Dhawan - who has a great record in world tournaments – for the remainder of the World Cup and Bhuvneshwar for at least a couple of more matches is a big blow to India.

But India has enough firepower in their reserves to go all the way in the tournament.