It's not for nothing that Mark Twain said, "A favourite theory of mine — to wit, that no occurrence is sole and solitary, but is merely a repetition of a thing which has happened before, and perhaps often."

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India were just another team in the 1983 World Cup. They were not expected to win. That they did lift the Prudential Cup isn't a big surprise, actually. Just look at the number of world-class all-rounders they had. In 2011, MS Dhoni led a team of superstars to a spectacular win. If one were to make a statistical comparison, how does the Indian team picked for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand fare against the earlier ones?

Various parameters like the number of all-rounders, average age of the team, conditions and win-loss ratio indicate that the team led by Dhoni, at least statistically, are favourites to defend their title.

In the 12 months preceding the 1983 World Cup, New Zealand (13-6) were the team with the best win-loss ratio. But India (5-5), fourth on the list, won. Four years ago, Sri Lanka (13-5) and South Africa (15-6) went in as the in-form sides. Then again, India (16-11) managed to turn the tables in style. This time, India go in to the World Cup with an astonishing record (14-4) in the year gone by, easily the best. All they have to do is live up to the pre-tournament sentiment. Easier said than done, of course.

Let's look at the Indian teams of 1983 and 2011. For starters, the average age of both sides was 27-28 years. A battery of all-rounders shouldered much of the burden in 1983; in 2011, Yuvraj Singh alone proved a handful. Both teams had good, nay great, batsmen. It's a different matter, though, that Kapil's Devils had just one hundred to show as against five from Dhoni's boys. Well, that was primarily because of the conditions and the pace of scoring in that era.

In the league stage of the 1983 World Cup, India bowled out opponents in four matches — more than any other team. They also managed to prise out 10 wickets in the semifinal against England and the final against the West Indies. The presence of all-rounders like Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Yashpal Sharma and Kirti Azad allowed India to dominate.

In 2011, when the World Cup was played in the sub-continent, the onus was on the batsmen to make the most of the conditions. And the Indians did not disappoint. Not only did the Indians boast the best scoring rate in the competition (5.47), but they also scored the most centuries (five) and 50-plus scores (12) in their six league matches.

In ODIs played in Australia since the 2011 World Cup, teams have realised only 39.36% of the total runs scored through boundaries. This is the lowest among all nations which have hosted ODIs in the period (except Kenya and The Netherlands, who have together hosted only seven matches).

India play four of their six league fixtures in Australia. Also, five of the seven knockout matches (four quarterfinals, two semifinals and the final) will be played in Australia. It is therefore essential that teams pick players who do not rely too much on boundaries, but instead make every delivery count.

And therein lies the strength of this Indian team, whose average age is just in excess of 27 years. Apart from Shikhar Dhawan, most of India's batsmen — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu — aren't all that dependent on boundaries. While close to 54% of Dhawan's 2,046 ODI runs have come through hits to the fence, the other batsmen have their systems pretty much tuned to knocking the ball into the gaps and keeping the scoreboard ticking. This, essentially, is the recipe to succeeding in Australia, where the grounds are huge.

When it comes to the World Cup, the selectors always seem to go in with a horses-for-courses policy. Which is why Kapil's team was loaded with seam-bowling all-rounders. Similarly, Dhoni's 2011 side was packed with match-winning batsmen and spin-bowling all-rounders. This time, Sandeep Patil & Co. have put their monies on superb batsmen who can make every delivery count. That apart, the team comprises several pace bowlers who can make use of the conditions Down Under. What's more, they will have spent more than three months on the trot in Australia even before the first ball is bowled on Valentine's Day.—Arun Gopalakrishnan is a Bangalore-based cricket statistician and writer. He tweets at @statanalystTHEN & NOWWorld Cup Average Age of Team India1983 27 years & 204 days2011 28 years & 148 days2015 27 years & 145 daysWorld Cup Total ODI Caps Runs Wickets1983 262 4,817 1192011 2,070 49,410 1,2122015 1,242 29,889 587