Munaf provides the firepower

India announced their arrival as a one-day team of substance in 1983, when Kapil Dev's under-rated team lifted the World Cup. Before that tournament, they had won just one World Cup match out of six, while their campaigns since then have been mixed as well - a final and semi-final appearance in 2003 and 1987 were offset by pedestrian performances in 1992 and 1999. Overall, their win-loss ratio of 1.34 (31 wins, 23 defeats) puts them in fifth place, after Australia, South Africa, West Indies and England. (Click here for India's World Cup record in each tournament, and here for their overall stats.)

Under Rahul Dravid, India had a glorious run in 2005-06, but their recent run has been rather less awe-inspiring, with only seven wins and ten defeats in their last 20 matches, including a stretch where they lost six games in a row. Series wins at home against West Indies and Sri Lanka would have assuaged their supporters somewhat, but India's record in the West Indies doesn't inspire much confidence, with just five wins in 20 ODIs.

The break-up of India's performances in their last 20 matches shows that their numbers while batting and bowling are remarkably similar - there is little to choose between the runs they score - and the rate at which they get them - and the runs they concede.

Many critics wrote him off after he was dropped from the Indian team, but Sourav Ganguly has bounced back quite splendidly, with four half-centuries in his last ODI six innings and an average touching 70. Most of the other top-order batsmen have done reasonably well too - with Robin Uthappa being the revelation - but the one big worry has been the form of Virender Sehwag. An average of 17.30 in his last 13 innings will do little to boost his or the team's confidence, and his failure in the practice match against West Indies will be further worry for the Indian think-tank.

The partnership stats show that the Indian top order has strung together useful stands, but not matchwinning ones. The opening is obviously a worry, thanks to Sehwag's poor form. In their last 20 innings, India have tried out nine different opening pairs, with only one pair - Sehwag and Tendulkar - batting together more than four times. The two have opened on six occasions, but have only managed an average opening stand of 18.50. In these 20 games, Sehwag has only batted twice with Ganguly, but the two - who are likely to be India's first-choice openers - have plenty of experience of opening together: in 60 previous first-wicket partnerships, they have put together six century stands at a healthy average of 39.85.

The other problem India need to sort out is their lower-order batting: in the last 20 matches, their last five put together, on an average, less than 71 runs, with the last three wickets hardly contributing. In close, must-win games, the runs chipped in by the tail could turn out to be critical.

His fielding may provoke derisory comments, but when Munaf Patel has the new ball in hand, his performances leave room for little argument - 14 wickets at less than 18 per wicket, and at 3.43 runs per over, are high-class numbers. With Zaheer Khan regaining his zest and control, India have a new-ball attack of fairly formidable proportions.

Dravid might have to think hard about who to bowl at the death, though. Apart from the regular bowlers, one of the options he could consider is Tendulkar, whose ability to mix it up has made him a difficult bowler to get away for runs.

The first table shows that India's bowlers have been unable to get wickets at regular intervals during the middle overs - between 21 and 40 overs, they concede almost 47 runs per wicket. Harbhajan Singh's 12 wickets during this phase of the game has cost him 36 apiece, and it's here that Dravid might miss the presence of Ramesh Powar. In the middle stages, Powar, with his ability to toss it up and induce errors from the batsmen, averages just 17 runs per wicket at an economy rate of less than four.