Cricket World Cup 2015: India's Biggest Headache Is Weary Minds and Bodies

India's preparations for the 2015 Cricket World Cup have been less than ideal. As England can testify, a tough tour of Australia isn't exactly the perfect staging post for a successful World Cup challenge.

England of course had many other problems to contend with in 2007 and 2011, let alone playing a World Cup soon after an Ashes tour.

India are certainly in better shape than England in that respect. MS Dhoni's men have the experience and World Cup pedigree to mount a deep run in this year's competition.

Do they have the mettle to overcome the mental and physical drain of an extremely testing series against Australia in time for the World Cup, though?

Since arriving in Australia in late November 2014, India have played 10 matches in all formats of the game. They've not managed to win any of them. They couldn't crack an inexperienced Cricket Australia XI and were humiliated by nine wickets in Brisbane by a far from terrifying England.

Theron Kirkman/Associated Press

That's not to say that all is doom and gloom in the Indian camp. For much of the Test series, India went toe-to-toe with the Australians. The batsmen in general and Virat Kohli in particular showed what was possible against a high-class attack in traditionally alien conditions.

Eleven of the World Cup squad appeared in the 2-0 Test series defeat against Australia. Whether they can get that loss and the winless Tri-Series that followed out of their system will go a long way to deciding whether India will mount a successful defence of the title.

There are big questions to be answered before their opening match against old foes Pakistan on 15 February.

As stacked as the Indian middle order looks, the opening partnership is a work in progress. Shikhar Dhawan struggled against the swinging ball in the Tri-Series and has reached 50 just once in his past 12 innings in all formats.

If the batsmen fail and it's up to the tail to chase a tricky total, the omens don't look especially good either. As ESPN Cricinfo's Bishen Jeswant highlights, only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have posted fewer 50 partnerships for their last five wickets since the start of 2013.

The pace attack looked pretty anaemic in the Tri-Series with Stuart Binny India's leading wicket-taker with four.

The spinners have a far from spectacular record Down Under too. Ravichandran Ashwin averages 44.75 with the ball in ODIs in Australia and has just a single wicket to his name in five games in New Zealand.

Similarly, Ravindra Jadeja has just three wickets at 129.67 in six games in Australia and four at 60.25 in four appearances across the Tasman Sea.

Much will rest then on the shoulders of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. If they give the bowlers enough runs to work with, the Indians certainly have a chance.

Professional gamblers talk about how important it is to not place too much emphasis on recent events. The so-called “recency bias” can easily impair judgement. That can certainly be applied to India's chances.

It wasn't a fluke that India won the 2011 World Cup and reached the final of the 2014 World T20. They're not ranked No. 2 in the world in ODIs for nothing, despite what recent results suggest.

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When India won the WC in 1983 & 2011 & were finalists in 2003 they had lost the odi series before it. Winning form before WC is overrated.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) February 1, 2015"

The group stages are set up for the big sides to qualify. Hitting a good run at the right time in the knockout stages could take a team all the way to the title.

MS Dhoni's side have a nine-day break between their final Tri-Series game and first World Cup warm-up match against Australia in Adelaide on 8 February. Indian fans will be hoping that's just long enough to recharge weary limbs and minds.

If they can summon up one last push, a side featuring Dhoni, Kohli, Sharma and Raina could yet cause plenty of damage.