ENGLAND VS INDIA..showdown of ICC CT13

23^rd June 2013 will be the showdown of the last Champions Trophy. India and England will face off for the first time in any major tournament final. Hence it will be fair to say that two most deserving teams are in the final. 

INDIA the BIG favorites have not been threatened by any means in the tournament so far. The only problem India had was their bowling which has been their biggest headache since long. Their star studded batting line up fresh and up beat from the recently concluded IPL was always expected to perform. But coming into the tournament the biggest turnaround has been India pace bowling. In Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma India has found a balanced pace bowling line up. R Ashwin and R Jadeja complete a formidable bowling. Batting the real strength of India as expected been far better in the tournament where all other teams have struggled to score Indian batsmen has scored freely thanks to their new and refreshing opening partnership of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan with two centuries and one fifty plus score has been the star of the tournament. 

ENGLAND last played champions trophy final in Oval 2004 where West Indies tail-Enders snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Demons of that match will still haunt the Englishmen. This year England has grinded their way to the semifinals before they showed a more dominant performance against South Africa. Though the chokers tag and self-destruction of South Africans did help but England should be given credit for their approach. England batting in absence of Kevin Peterson relies on Cook and trott to provide stability at one end with Ian Bell, Morgan, Joe Root and Butler to force the issue on the other hand. England Bowling has been the strongest in the tournament. Anderson & Broad have been in good rhythm throughout, Bresnan and Finn have provided perfect foil as the third seamer, although Swann did withdrew from the tournament but tredwell has grabbed this opportunity with both hands. 

India will enter the final as clear favorites, their policy has been simple bowl first restrict the opposition to a limited score and then leave the rest to their batters. However England bowling will hold the key, India’s Middle order hasn’t been tested yet and if England bowlers did strike early things might become interesting. India still holds the edge but in a big game pressure can do funny things. My gut feeling is that England will cross the line this time.             

Pakistan chances in ICC Champions Trophy 2013

Pakistan being the most unpredictable team always has an outside chance to win any tournament and this year’s ICC Champion trophy is no different. 

Just before every big event Pakistani team comes up with different issues, players conflict with board, match fixing issues, differences among players  to name a few. This has become a routine for them, this time around omission of Shahid Afridi from 15 member squad was the topic of discussion. The 33 year old all-rounder is going through an extended lean patch since his brilliance in ICC World Cup 2011. His bowing has been his major strength with very few glimpses of his hard hitting batting which he is famous of.  Since the start of 2012 Afridi has taken only 15 wickets in 21 ODIs, His batting average during this period is 19.

Another big news was the omission of Umar Gul due to injury. Gul has been the spear head of Pakistan fast bowling unit since long. His experience will clearly be missed. Middle order Batsman Umar Akmal and Left arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir have also been left out.

Out of Six ICC champions Trophy Pakistan have reached semifinals thrice. England has hosted Champions Trophy In 2004 in which Pakistan reached the semifinals only to lose to West Indies who ended up winning the tournament.

Leading into the Champions Trophy Pakistan will play two matches each with Scotland and Ireland in their respective back yards. A perfect foil for the youngsters to acclimatize in cold weather. Following them Pakistan will play warm matches against Sri Lanka & South Africa.

Pakistan is in group B with West Indies, South Africa and arch rivals India. Matches will be played in Oval which has traditionally helped spinners and Edgbaston whose pitch is rapidly losing pace.

Pakistan batting will again be relying on Muhammad Hafeez and Nasir jamshed to provide good starts with contributions from middle order comprising on Misbah ul haq, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Asad Shafiq and Umer Amin. With Umar Gul injured Fast bowling will be in the hands of young Junaid Khan and Muhammad Irfan with Wahab Riaz, Ahsan Adil and Asad Ali. Spin wizard Saeed Ajmal will hold the key.

This Pakistani team has aggression in Kamran Akmal, Imran Farhat, Muhamamd Hafeez and Nasir jamshed. Cool head in Misbah-ul-haq, Shoaib Malik to handle pressure situation and can also act as finishers. In the bowling department Junaid khan and Muhammad Irfan will provide extra pace and saeed ajmal and abdul rehman will take control in spin department.

Pakistan may not look the tournament winning combination to most but it still has many match winners who can take the match away in no time. I wouldn’t rate Pakistan as a front runner for the trophy but one of the favorites to atleast reach the semifinals.

ICC Champions Trophy 2013

On 6th June, 2013 South Africa will face India to kick off ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Squad of 15 players of all 08 countries are mentioned below:

PAKISTAN 
Misbah ul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umar Amin, Abdur Rehman, Ehsan Adil

INDIA 
MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik (wk), M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar.

AUSTRALIA 
Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, David Warner, Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

ENGLAND 
Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes

SRILANKA 
Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara, Shaminda Eranga, Sachithra Senanayake, Chanaka Welagedara

WEST INDIES 
Dwayne Bravo (capt.), Denesh Ramdin, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith

New Zealand 
Brendon McCullum (capt), Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Andrew Ellis, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenagham, Nathan McCullum, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson

SOUTH AFRICA 
AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

IPL 6 so far....

 

Out of 72 round robin matches IPL is 47 games old and we’ve been treated to some magnificent, and some awful, cricket. The table is beginning to show a clearer picture as to the sides that are looking likely to make it to the play offs. like every edition this years IPL has its surprises and some old routine stuff

SURPRISES

The biggest surprise so far has been the performance of defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, they have managed to win only 04 out of their 11 games and need to win all the remaining 05 (3 away, 2 home) games in order to keep their play offs dream alive.

On the other side Sunrisers Hyderabad (formerly aka Deccan Chargers) have been the dark horses of the tournament.  They have the most potent bowling attack of all the teams and with their batsmen starting to find form they are on the on their way to playoffs.

CONSISTENT

Chennai Super Kings the most balanced team in the competition continue to set pace and with 18 points from 11 matches they are all but sure to make it to the playoffs. The only thing they might fear is self destruction.

Self destruction reminds me of Mumbai Indians. Tagged as care free spenders in auctions Mumbai Indians bought Glenn Maxwell for $ 1 million who haven't featured yet in their 10 games. Ricky Ponting was also bought in to settle the leadership issues, but the legend has struggled to score runs which prompting him to sit out because of the limitations of only four over seas players. With six games still left Mumbai need to win at least three games for confirming their spot in the play offs.

On the player front there are some familiar faces topping the run scoring and wicket taking charts. The biggest story of IPL 6, so far at least, has without doubt been one Chris Gayle. If you missed it, he hit a rather brisk 175* against Pune the other week. Old hand Michael Hussey is offering Gayle the most competition for ownership of the orange cap with Virat Kohli not far behind.

Among the bowlers, CSK Dwayne Bravo tops the list with Sunil Narine and Vinay Kumar giving him tough competition for the purple cap.

Qadir Yousuf