Renowned sports journalist Vimal Kumar, with a 15-year experience and passion for the game, has produced a pocket-size World Cup book at the most opportune time. This reader-friendly compendium is a must-have for every passionate lover of the game and a perfect primer for the 2015 World Cup.

The essential guide is a companion volume for every cricket-crazy follower who wants the facts, statistics and details about the World Cup right on hand. The Cricket Fanatic's Essential Guide is jam-packed with most important and fascinating, often overlooked and sometimes long-forgotten information on the 40 thrilling years of the World Cup, its matches, its players and its results.

Vimal Kumar believes India have an opportunity to emulate West Indies and Australia by winning back to back World Cup titles. "A batting line-up almost as good as that of triumphant 2011 team is India's obvious strength. However, their bowling attack is unpredictable and modest at best. Despite a thin bowling attack, MS Dhoni should be able to do what Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting have done in the past to defend their title triumph."

Australia, according to Vimal, will start as one of the top favourites. Their home advantage, attacking openers, powerful hitters in the middle order, fast-bowling all-rounders and a deep batting order are obvious strengths.

The author say the 2015 World Cup is the first time since 1992 that Sachin's name will be missing from the Indian squad to the World Cup. In an interview to the author after his retirement from Test cricket in November 2013, Sachin had recalled, "Winning the World Cup in 2011 was undoubtedly, the proudest moment of my life. It was the ultimate dream. At times, it was difficult to believe that we had indeed won the Cup! The feeling of lifting the trophy in Mumbai, my hometown, was overwhelming. I wasn't able to control my tears; I had started playing cricket dreaming that one day we would win the Cup. Despite the setbacks, despite the defeats (in previous World Cups), I never gave up. It was a fantastic team effort throughout the tournament in 2011, and that was the real reason for our victory."

Apart from the history of the competition, the state of 50-over cricket, brief match results of each World Cup, trivia, not so common facts and what to expect from the 2015 edition of the World Cup

The best part of the book is the highlighted section in each of the fifteen chapters, ensuring that cricket enthusiasts don't miss a vital piece of history or an interesting trivia. The little-known facts about each World Cup are covered quite intelligently in the 'Powerplay' section.

The Cricket Fanatic's Essential Guide has been painstakingly researched and lovingly compiled. What is most remarkable is that so much has been packed into a book of 202 pages, with everything set out with such clarity of detail.