Wicket keeper, India's best No 3 batsman, 'The Wall'. These are just some of the roles that Rahul Dravid has taken on so far. But at World Cup 2007 in West Indies, it will be the role of captain that will be the focus of everyone's attention.

Rahul Dravid was named captain of ICC's Test Team of the Year in 2006.

With the highest Test average of an Indian, he has over time defied criticism of slow batting. Known for his classic strokes and cover drives, the right hand batsman recently completed 10,000 runs in One Day Internationals while playing against Sri Lanka.

Leading a mixed bunch of freshers and experienced players, it will be up to this Padma Shri awardee to lead from the front.

Matches		Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Highest	Average	100	50
Tests	107	182	22	9174	270	57.33	23	46
ODIs	310	287	36	10044	153	40.01	12	77

Test Debut :England v India at Lord's - June 20-24, 1996
ODI Debut :India v Sri Lanka at Singapore - April 3, 1996

Perhaps the best way to describe the genius that Sachin Tendulkar is, would be that he is compared with none other than Sir Donald Bradman.
Wisden named him the second greatest Test batsman ever, after Bradman. Among his kitty of records are the most Test centuries, most ODI centuries and the most runs in ODIs. It has been a long innings from his debut as a 16 year old in the Pakistan tour.

The Master Blaster, who is making his fifth appearance at World Cup 2007, also holds the record for the most runs in World Cup history, with the 2003 edition being his best so far, with 673 runs, the highest by a player in a single World Cup.

Time magazine's 'Asian Hero', will hope the elusive World Cup title will be his team's this time around.

Matches		Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Highest	Average	100	50
Tests	135	217	22	10668	248*	54.70	35	43
ODIs	381	371	36	14783	186*	44.12	41	76

Test Debut : Pakistan v India at Karachi - November 15-20, 1989
ODI Debut : Pakistan v India at Gujranwala - December 18, 1989

World Cup 2007 will be special for Sourav Ganguly, coming after a commendable comeback. Ganguly led Team India in a spectacular turnaround at a time when nothing seemed to go right for the Men in Blue. He went on to become India's most successful Test captain.

Teaming with Sachin Tendulkar, he formed a deadly opening pair. However his slump in form and differences with coach Greg Chappell led to his downslide and eventually he was out of the team. But, only briefly.

The Bengal Tiger let his game do the talking when he got the opportunity in the South Africa tour in 2006-2007. Team India will be banking on his experience this World Cup.

Matches		Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Highest	Average	100	50
Tests	91	146	13	5435	173	40.86	12	27
ODIs	286	276	22	10470	183	41.22	22	64

Test Debut :England v India at Lord's - June 20-24, 1996
ODI Debut : India v West Indies at Brisbane - January 11, 1992

When he's fielding, batsmen from the opposition team have enough reasons to be cautious. A stupendous year with the bat earned him ICC player of the Year and Test Player of the Year 2006.

Ricky Ponting has a mission on hand when he leads Australia to World Cup 2007; to set things straight for his team. Ponting, as captain of the Australian team, has records that can at best, be called extremes.

Under his captaincy, Australia has 105 wins from 136 ODIs, making his record one of the best in the ODI history. His team was hit by defeat in the 2005 Ashes series; the previous Australian loss only being in 1986-87. What followed, however, were 16 wins from 17 Tests and a 5-0 whitewash of the next Ashes series by the Aussies. So after five straight losses just ahead of the tournament and injury worries for the team, it will up to the world's top ranked Test batsman to show that the Australians aren't called 'invincible' for nothing.

Matches		Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Highest	Average	100	50
Tests	110	183	25	9368	257	59.29	33	36
ODIs	269	263	31	9856	164	42.48	22	58

Test Debut :Australia v Sri Lanka at Perth - December 8-11, 1995 
ODI Debut : Australia v South Africa at Wellington - February 15, 1995