Perhaps for the first time, India will travel to the World Cup with a genuine belief that they can win the tournament.

Kapil Dev's heroics may have carried them to the title in 1983. But their victory over the West Indies in the final remains one of the sport's great shocks, and the confidence of their 1987 side was based largely on home advantage.

This time India appear to have all the ingredients for success from the word go.

Their batting remains formidable with three of the world's most accomplished performers in Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly still very much at the top of their games.

That trio are undoubtedly world class, and the supporting cast is not far behind either.

Virender Sehwag has proved he not only looks like Tendulkar, but can at times play like him - and youngsters Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif have already displayed their match-winning abilities.

In the seam department veteran Javagal Srinath and left-armers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan are all capable performers.

All-rounder Ajit Agarkar, although he can be expensive, provides a handy back-up option.

With Anil Kumble as wily as ever and Harbhajan Singh still in the early stages of an international career, their spin threat remains one to be feared.

Wicketkeeping could be the weak link with Parthiv Patel too raw and Dravid as unconvincing with the big gloves as he is infallible with bat in hand.

Ganguly may not be everyone's cup of cha - just ask any of his Lancashire team-mates from the 2000 season - but his captaincy has proved surprisingly uplifting.

Under pressure after England dramatically fought back to level their one-day series in India at 3-3 last January, Ganguly oversaw his side's revenge in an outstanding NatWest Series the following summer.

Nasser Hussain's histrionics looked to have stolen the headlines and centuries from him in the final, but Yuvraj and Kaif turned that round by belying their years with match-winning knocks of great maturity.

The pair helped India recover from 146 for five to successfully chase 325 in one of the greatest one-day finals ever seen at Lord's. India followed this up with a fine run in the ICC Champions Trophy, and it is on the basis of such performances that World Cup-winning campaigns can be built.

With India, though, things are never so straightforward. Not only do they have to play under the pressure of a cricket-mad population's expectation, but off-the-field problems are never far away.

Last time they were in South Africa, their Test series was controversially halted and the third match declared unofficial after a ball-tampering scandal involving Tendulkar.

The row over player endorsements before the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka was also unhelpful and even now is far from settled.

Putting all this aside, however - and despite their most recent struggles in New Zealand - India appear a complete unit on the field with a good team spirit, reflecting much credit on coach John Wright.

If they can continue to build on their excellent performances in England and at the Champions Trophy there is no reason why India cannot win the World Cup for a second time - and this time it would not be a surprise.