By Aadya Sharma

As ever, India enter a World Cup unanimously branded ‘favourites’. Moreover it’s a home tournament, and the last three winners have all been hosts, dating back to India in 2011 and that magical outpouring in Mumbai, a generational and expectation-setting achievement.
Each year since, however, those expectations have taken a hit, knackered by the blow of every ICC event and every missed chance. The hope rages on inside, but you whisper your prayers. The heartbreak of 2019 and the image of a defeated MS Dhoni, trudging back in silence as his final act in the India kit, st...