We're all waiting for the 13th of March 2007. The ICC World Cup 2007 begins with the West Indies - Pakistan encounter at Jamaica. As far as most of us are concerned, the top eight teams in the ICC One Day International rankings have a decent chance to win this World Cup.

South Africa, who became ranked number one recently are one of the favourites to win the World Cup. Their consistent performances have brought a number of changes in their results, with their latest success being the 4-0 wash out against India and the outstanding results against Pakistan at home. The South African wickets are similar to the ones at Australia - hard and bouncy pitches, so will the Proteas be able to adjust to the slow and turning pitches at the Caribbean? Their chances depend on how Herschelle Gibbs, skipper Graeme Smith, all-rounder Shaun Pollock and ever consistent Andrew Hall play during the month.

Australia, recently demoted to the second spot in the rankings, have suffered shock losses to supposedly inferior teams just before the World Cup. Their loss to England in the Commonwealth Bank series and the loss to New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee series shows that the former world champions are beatable in this World Cup. As ever, though, writing them off would be a grave mistake. The likes of Mike Hussey, Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath will still play a vital role in this World Cup.

New Zealand, according to many experts, have the most balanced side. This makes them one of the teams who have the ability to win the World Cup. Their recent wins against Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee series have been a confidence booster and should help them get far in the World Cup. They'll need the likes of Daniel Vettori, Stephen Fleming and Shane Bond to contribute with consistent performances to help the team.

Pakistan, as we know are extremely unpredictable. If it's their day, they can comfortably win even against the best nations but they are also one of the teams which can lose on the next day. If they play consistently, there is no doubt about them winning the World Cup. They'll be dependant on players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi to bring the cup home.

India have lately been in good form winning the Pepsi Cup against the World Cup hosts the West Indies and the series against Sri Lanka along with both their warm-up matches. India will need good performances by Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan to win the World Cup.

Sri Lanka have improved to a huge extent after the captaincy role was taken by Mahela Jayawardena. Apart from the recent loss to India, things have been going on sweetly for them.The likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas will be important from Sri Lanka's point of view.

England may be ranked lower down in the rankings but they have comeback brilliantly after losing the Ashes 5-0. They beat New Zealand and Australia each a couple of times to win the Commonwealth Bank Series. Their current form looks good enough to win the World Cup.

West Indies, the host of the World Cup would have an advantage of playing the Championship at home.They managed to get to the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy in India but then followed it up with series losses against Pakistan and India. If their key players like Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan fire, they can use the added advantage of playing at home to win the trophy.

Apart from these teams, no other team has a big chance of winning the World Cup. All the teams mentioned here have a decent and equal chance of winning the World Cup.

__________________
Karthik Venkatesan