The most awaited Champions Trophy tournament is just 6 days away with top 8 teams in the world taking on each other starting from 1st June with Bangladesh facing the hosts England at Oval, London. England, India, South Africa, Australia looks the strong contenders while New Zealand should give a tough fight.
Here we look at the top 5 contenders who could win the Champions Trophy 2017 tournament :-
- England
England has been playing brilliant cricket after their group stage exit in the 2015 World Cup. From 2016-2017, the Eoin Morgan led side showed their progress in limited overs format by playing 27 matches winning 18 and losing 7 matches. In Champions Trophy history they have played a total of 21 matches winning 11 and losing 10 with a win percentage of 52.38. In the previous edition, England lost in the finals by 5 runs.
The new look England side have posted the highest score in One day international format of 444 for 3 against Pakistan last year. They have a strong batting unit the likes of Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali. The pitches in England are helpful for batsmen and if this happens then the opposition team would struggle to put pressure on them. In the last 10 ODI innings their average score has been 328.
- India
The Indian Cricket team are the defending Champions that they won under the captaincy of MS Dhoni in 2013. They have won this tournament twice sharing with Sri Lanka in 2002 and winning the title 4 years ago. In total their performances during Champions Trophy history has been good playing 23 matches winning 15 , losing 2 and No result 2 times. The Men in Blue are the most successful team in Champions Trophy history with a win percentage of 71.42. The Indian team under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly were the runners- up in 2000 losing to New Zealand at Nairobi. This time the Indian team will be led by Virat Kohli. The batting looks strong with the likes of Rohit Sharma (177 runs in 5 and Shikhar Dhawan with 363 runs were the backbone of Indian batting line up during the last edition.
Rahane will be third back up opener. Virat Kohli would be looking to perform well in England conditions, they have the experience of Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni with 582 ODI matches between them. Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya would be looking to ease the pressure from MS Dhoni. In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami , Hardik Pandya and the 2 spinning options would be looking to put pressure in the middle overs.
- South Africa
South Africa would be the third strong contender to win the Champions Trophy 2017. Their only win was in the first edition which was called the ICC Knockout tournament played in Dhaka. They have appeared in 4 semi-finals of this prestigious tournament. In total, South Africa’s record in CT history has been average playing 21 matches with 11 wins, 9 losses and 1 tie with a win percentage of 54.76. This time have good line up with the likes of Quniton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, David Miller, JP Duminy. They have good quality bowlers in the form of Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, Andile Phelukwayo. It looks a strong unit but they need to handle the pressure of knockout rounds well. They will enter the Champions Trophy as number 1 ranked side in the world.
- Australia
Australia enters into the Champions Trophy 2017 as the second ranked team in ODI format. They have played a total of 21 matches winning 12, losing 7 and No result twice with a win percentage of 63.15. The five time World Cup winners have won this tournament 2 times in 2006 and 2009. In CT 2017, the Australian team will be led by Steve Smith. Their batting looks strong with the likes of David Warner (93 ODI matches) Aaron Finch 79 ODI’s need to provide good starts for Australia., Steve Smith , Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Stoinis has to continue if the Men in Yellow are to post a big total.
If the Australian team has to win then their pace battery of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, James Pattison, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa need to bowl well with line and length. Their performance in the ODI cricket has not been great losing 0-5 to South Africa last year.
- New Zealand
New Zealand is the final strongest contender to win CT 2017. In the year 2016/2017, the Kiwis have played a total of 29 matches winning 17, losing 11 and no result once. Under the captaincy of Stephen Fleming, their only win came in 2000 during the ICC Knockout tournament beating India. Their record in CT history is decent playing 21 matches, winning 12, losing 8 and No result 1 with a win percentage of 60. In 2013 edition they failed to qualify from the group stages.
This time the team will be led by Kane Williamson. The key players in their team are Martin Guptill, Kane Willamson, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan need to play with aggressive intent. Tom Latham, Luke Ronchi, Collin de Grandhomme all need to step up their performances against England and Australia. After the finals of 2015 World Cup, New Zealand have not performed well. They need to aggressive cricket if they have to qualify for the knockout stages.
The other three teams Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka might be the surprise package. Bangladesh will enter the tournament as the sixth ranked team and is clubbed in a tough group while Pakistan and Sri Lanka also needs to play good cricket to qualify for semi-finals. Both of them are clubbed with India and South Africa.