With more than 7000 athletes and team officials flying into Delhi in October, the XIX Games will be the largest in Commonwealth history.
However, with a number of high-profile withdrawals, plus suspensions due to drug abuse, many have questioned whether the Delhi Games have the pulling power of previous events.
Despite the criticism, the Commonwealth countries have assembled a top-class list of attendees, featuring a younger and untested group of athletes.
Cyclist Gary Henderson and tennis player Ellen Barry are the only New Zealand athletes to withdraw from the Games, citing personal, health and security reasons.
Australia
Australia is highly ranked in a number of Commonwealth sports including swimming, cycling, hockey and netball. It topped the medals table at the Melbourne Games in 2006, with a tally of 84 gold medals, 69 silver and 69 bronze.
This year, 425 athletes and 175 officials are representing Australia in Delhi.
While most of the 52 members of the national swimming team are newcomers to the event, the Australian team features a number of well-seasoned performers, including seven-time Commonwealth gold medallist Leisel Jones. Backstroker Emily Seebohm, 18, is also tipped as one to watch after winning one gold and two silver medals at the Pan Pacific Championships in August.
Australia is without the services of world record holder Stephanie Rice, who won gold at Melbourne and the Beijing Olympics in 2008 in the individual medley. She has withdrawn due to a shoulder injury.
In cycling, Australia is represented by seven current world champions, including Anna Meares and Matthew Hayman, who will be defending their Commonwealth titles. The squad won four gold medals in Melbourne in 2006.
The men's hockey team, the Kookaburras, are the favourites for Delhi, having won every gold medal since the introduction of hockey as a Commonwealth sport in 1998.
The Australian netball team is also highly tipped, with the Diamonds keen to reclaim their Commonwealth title after narrowly losing to New Zealand's Silver Ferns in 2006. It was the team's first Commonwealth loss in 12 years.
Meanwhile, world discus champion Dani Samuels has withdrawn from the squad just two weeks before the beginning of the Games due to security issues and problems with the team's accommodation.
England
England's gold medal chances in athletics have been shaken by the late withdrawal of three key athletes. Phillips Idowu, Christine Ohuruogu and Lisa Dobriskey have pulled out of the Games, citing concerns about preparations and injury.
Idowu, the world triple jump champion, was expected to defend the Commonwealth title he won in Melbourne, but withdrew from the squad just two weeks before the Games were due to begin.
Commonwealth and Olympic 400m champion Ohuruogu has also pulled out, claiming she did not want to risk aggravating a muscle injury. Dobriskey, who won the 1500m in Melbourne, has been troubled by a leg injury.
Nonetheless, England is sending a large team of 368 athletes to compete in Delhi, hoping to add to its Melbourne Games success of 110 medals, including 36 golds.
England's swimming squad includes double Olympian medallist Rebecca Adlington and world champions Liam Tancock, Gemma Spofforth and Tom Daley. The team performed well at the 2010 European Championships, with Adlington, Spofforth, Lizzie Simmonds and Fran Halsall all claiming gold medals.
In athletics, Mo Farah, who won two gold medals in the European Championships in July, is challenging in the 800m, 5000m, and 10,000m. England won six gold, four silver and eight bronze athletics medals in Melbourne.
England also stands a good chance in hockey, with the women's team winning bronze at the recent World Cup, losing only to the non-Commonwealth countries of Argentina and Holland. The men's team is ranked fourth in the world.
Pistol shooter Mick Gault, attending his fifth Commonwealth Games, is hoping to add to his tally of 15 medals, including nine golds, in Delhi. He needs four more medals to win a new title - the athlete to win the most medals in Commonwealth Games history.
India
The Indian team has already been rocked by allegations of drug abuse, with seven athletes - a shot putter, two swimmers and four wrestlers - suspended ahead of the Games.
India claimed fourth place on the Melbourne 2006 medals table, with 50 medals, including 22 golds, which were won mainly in shooting.
India is also expected to perform well in weightlifting, despite last year's banning of six weightlifters found to be taking banned substances.
The national federation was forced to pay $US500,000 in fines before being allowed to participate again in international competition.
Wrestler Susheel Kumar is also highly tipped, after winning a gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Moscow earlier this year.
Jamaica
Jamaica's medals chances have also suffered a major setback with the withdrawal of high-profile sprinters Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser has also withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games, citing a long season and a preference to be in form for next year's World Championships.
Jamaica claimed 22 athletics medals, including 10 golds, to finish seventh on the medals table at the Melbourne Games.
Despite being without its biggest stars, the Jamaican team features a talented crew, including decathlete Maurice Smith and women's middle distance runner Kenia Sinclair.
Trecia Smith returns to defend the triple jump gold medal she won at the Melbourne Games, and a strong challenge is expected from Dorian Scott in the shot put.
The glamour 100m races feature Oshane Bailey, Lerone Clarke, Rasheed Dwyer, Yanique Boothe and Shanna Thomas.
Kenya
Kenya has focused its Commonwealth ambitions in track and field, after picking up six athletics gold medals at the Melbourne Games.
Janeth Jeokosgei and Ezekiel Kemboi return to the Commonwealth stage to defend their titles in the women's 800m and men's 3000m steeplechase, respectively.
However, the team has been weakened by the withdrawals of high-profile athletes Linet Masai, who was set to challenge in the women's 5000m and 10,000m, and Olympic 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop.
