23rd 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.
