Guwahati, Sept. 30 -- The road to Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati is alive with the festive colours of Durga Pujo spilling into the streets - pandals glowing late into the night, music drifting across neighbourhoods. As the lights and the cricket chatter blend into one, both carry the promise of resilience and triumph. India's ODI World Cup campaign begins here, at home, under the shadow of expectation that has grown more powerful with every edition. India have never won a World Cup, yet the sense is that this one - played across their own grounds - could be different. It could be theirs. "The World Cup is going to happen at home after 12 years but there is no pressure at all, we all are looking really well," said India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, on the eve of the tournament opener. "In the practice games we played, we tried to tick all the boxes, so we all are very excited that we are getting this opportunity to play the World Cup in home conditions. There is nothing more we can ask for as cricketers." Their first challenge is a familiar one -- Sri Lanka in Guwahati, followed by a clash with Pakistan in Colombo. From there on, India goes through sterner tests -- South Africa and Australia in Visakhapatnam, teams that have often been India's litmus test at major tournaments. Then comes England in Indore, before the Navi Mumbai leg pits them against New Zealand and Bangladesh. No team will feel the weight of a home World Cup quite like India. The crowd will be hopeful but every performance will be dissected. While the support can inspire, it can also suffocate. The question is whether this Indian side can channel that energy into momentum rather than burden. However, Kaur seems confident. Their early exits in the T20 World Cups in 2023 and 2024 and a shock defeat in the Asia Cup final last year have also brought in scrutiny but from those failures, the reassured feeling across the Indian camp seems to suggest that some lessons were indeed learnt. "I think we played more ODI cricket after the last ICC T20 World Cup and we won most of the games and I think that has definitely given us a lot of confidence to do well in ODI cricket," Kaur said....