Who makes it to India's greatest World Cup XI?

As the build-up towards the 2023 World Cup gradually picks up steam, we make an India World Cup XI, featuring the country's best set of 11 performers from the history of the game at the quadrennial event. 

The list includes cricketers par excellence, who managed to ace their respective roles during their World Cup stints at the highest level. Giving these players a spot in an esteemed playing XI of this kind is only a tribute to their fantastic contributions for the team in the marquee tournament. 

While the Indian playing XI set to take the field for the 2023 World Cup is bound to inspire calls as competition favourites, this star-studded legendary playing unit would give even the current Indian side a run for its money in their pomp. 

Greatest Indian World Cup XI 

Top-order: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli 

Heading a top-order that would an envy of the world, Sachin Tendulkar has to be the first pick in the greatest Indian Cricket World Cup XI. The highest run-getter of World Cup history and 'Player of the Tournament' of the 2003 edition in South Africa, the 'Master Blaster' walks in with 2,278 runs in 44 innings played in the competition at an average of 56.95 maintained at a strike-rate of 88.96. Tendulkar made the most centuries - 6 - and struck 15 half-centuries during his illustrious World Cup career. 

Opening the batting alongside the legend is India's modern-day stalwart Rohit, who pips the mighty Virender Sehwag and his former opening partner Shikhar Dhawan to the top job for sheer consistency over a larger sample size. After gutwrenchingly missing the 2011 version as a youngster, Rohit has aced the World Cup challenge and dominated attacks during the 2019 edition. He now has a tally of 978 runs made in 17 innings at a SR of 95.97. 

From making fruitful little contributions to India's cause in 2011 to becoming the linchpin of their plans with the bat by the 2019 edition, Kohli has been through the full transition. Easily one of the greatest to play the 50-overs game, the 34-year-old is only behind Tendulkar in the Indian World Cup runs chart, with 1,030 runs made in 26 matches at a strike-rate of 88.70. Kohli has struck two hundreds and six half-centuries in the competition and will be looking to bolster this tally when he enters potentially his last 50-overs World Cup later in the year. 

Middle-order: Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni

The famed 2011 middle-order trio is also part of this Cricket World Cup XI. Yuvraj holds the No.4 spot after enriching his tournament tally with an excellent campaign 12 years back. The aggressive left-hander makes the cut with 738 runs in 21 innings at 52.71 apiece while carrying a strike-rate of 90.33. The 'Player of the Tournament' of the 2011 version also throws up a great utility bowling option to the side with his incisive left-arm spin, being the best performing spinner up India's sleeves during the competition. 

India's most wholehearted and selfless aggressor, Raina, bags the No.5 spot in this India World Cup XI after his multiple impactful knocks in the two editions he was part of. Raina is particularly remembered for his critical match-winning thirties in the quarterfinal and the semifinal of the 2011 version versus Australia and Pakistan, respectively. His 12-match tally of 358 runs looks highly impressive in the backdrop of his role and the strike-rate - 107.50 - at which he achieved them. 

His astute leadership skills and a legacy-defining knock in the run-chase at the 2011 final versus Sri Lanka makes MS Dhoni the next pick in our esteemed XI. Dhoni, too, underwent a full transition over 16 years and four editions of the World Cup. From an aggressive young talent to the sedate anchor, around whom the batting revolved, the great wicketkeeper-batter finished with 780 runs in 25 innings. Dhoni's excellent captaincy attributes give him the leadership badge in our India World Cup XI. 

"Dhoni finishes it off in style!"

Should this iconic six from @msdhoni to seal the title in 2011 reach the next stage of the @bira91 @cricketworldcup Greatest Moments? pic.twitter.com/rwVQmGIhHv

— ICC (@ICC) March 2, 2019

Allrounder: Kapil Dev 

One can't look past the legendary Kapil, the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper and the ever inspirational allrounder, for the No.7 spot in this playing XI. The Haryana Hurricane was the figure of pivotal nature in all the Indian teams he was part of during a rich career that spanned the best of the decade and a half. Kapil could blast opposition attacks down the order and be the man for all phases with the ball. His numbers stand vindictive of his allround prowess, the giant struck 669 runs at a SR of 115.14 and bagged 28 wickets at 3.08 runs an over. 

Bowling: Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble 

India's 2011 winner and all-stage bankable option Zaheer makes the India World Cup XI for two outstanding campaigns with the ball in Indian colours. The 2003 young turk, who impressed all with his talent and promise at the global stage in South Africa, became perhaps the world's finest limited-overs bowler eight years later on Indian shores. In all, the willy left-arm quick bagged 44 World Cup scalps at just 4.47 runs an over. 

Zaheer's bowling pair with ace speedster Bumrah would be an Indian fan's dream come true. Bumrah, easily the finest and the most robust Indian speedster to have played the game, had the most impactful 2019 campaign, emerging key to his team's ascent towards the semifinals stage. 

An all-phase bank, he took 18 wickets in his 9 outings in England at 20.61 apiece while giving only 4.41 an over. There may have been Indian seamers with more World Cup games played and greater share of the wickets column, but few have carried the Indian attack on their shoulders quite like Bumrah did in 2019, not only nailing it at his end but also allowing the rest to flourish. 

Last but certainly not the least is India's 90's spin-pace pairing of Srinath and Kumble. The two giants of India and Karnataka cricket were also the country's two most handsome performers with the ball in World Cups during their times. Srinath, in fact, remains the joint-highest Indian wicket-taker in World Cups with 44 scalps at 4.32 runs an over. 

Bagging the role of the standalone specialist spinner is the great 'Jumbo', whose skiddy wrist-spin would tame the beast inside most 90's and early 2000's batters, who weren't used to defensive trajectories. Kumble's 18-match World Cup career saw him be the breakthrough man for Indian captains. He took 31 scalps at just 22.83 apiece while giving away a modest 4.08 runs an over. 

India World Cup XI: The greatest playing XI from World Cups

• Sachin Tendulkar
• Rohit Sharma
• Virat Kohli
• Yuvraj Singh
• Suresh Raina
• MS Dhoni (c & wk)
• Kapil Dev
• Zaheer Khan
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Javagal Srinath
• Anil Kumble