According to former Nigeria coach Samson Siasia, Mikel and forwards Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike will be the central players for the African champions.
"Mikel will be key for Nigeria, having played at the highest level for a top club like Chelsea for many years. Such an experience should count for something," he said.
But Siasia, who featured for Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup, said he was concerned that the 27-year-old Mikel and some of the Super Eagles top stars had not been first-team regulars at their clubs.
"The biggest problem (for the team) is that most of the players did not play regularly for their various clubs and this cannot be good for the team," he said.
"What you can do when the players come together for the training camp for the World Cup would be mostly tactical and so I don't know how (coach Stephen) Keshi will go around this problem."
Former Nigeria striker Benedict Akwuegbu also said he expected Mikel to play a big role and described him as "the engine room of the Eagles' midfield".
Vision and skill
Mikel, who missed the last World Cup finals because of a knee injury, is a holding midfielder at the English Premier League side but is given a freer, more attacking role for his country as Lazio youngster Ogenyi Onazi does all the grafting alongside him.
He started out as an attacking midfielder. It was in that role that he was voted the second best player at the 2005 Fifa Under-20 World Cup behind four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.
His superb vision and ball skills prompted Nigeria's media to compare him with the legendary Austin "Jay Jay" Okocha.
But he was overlooked by Nigeria for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where the West African giants reached a second tournament final.
There was also a time when his commitment to the national team was questioned.
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