By Dhanjaya Senaratne
Much awaited Champion’s Trophy tournament starts today as hosts Pakistan take on New Zealand at National Stadium, Karachchi. The tournament is played in two groups where the first two of each come to the semi-finals.
India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh try their luck in the group A. England, Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan is included in the group B.
For more than one reason, group A is a group of ease. According the current international ODI rankings, India (1st) leads the table and Pakistan (3rd) and New Zealand (4th) stay close to each other. Therefore, the tournament opener between the two sides will have much to do when the first round reached its final stages. Bangladesh, the fourth team in group A, is currently placed at ninth in the ICC rankings and they have not done much in their recent matches.
Despite the tournament being held in Pakistan, the three games involving India will be played in Dubai. It has much to do with Indian politics and its policies.
India is a dominating side in world cricket today. Even without their top seamer, Jasprit Bumrah, India is still one of the top contenders to the title. The simple reason is that India has won most of the recent matches (win percentage 68%) out of all teams in this tournament. India has solutions for every condition they come across. Despite the fact that Virat Kohli has struggled across all three formats of the game since last June, must never under estimate him. Virat is a big time player.
Since 2015, New Zealand has been very consistent performers in the ICC tournaments. However, New Zealanders come to the Champion’s Trophy without few of their top players like Tim Southee. Yet, a player in the caliber of Rachin Ravindra can do some unexpected things in tournament of this nature.
With experienced players in likes of Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell New Zealanders cannot be written off. On Pakistan pitches, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner will have a better say. These cricketers have gained lot of experience in the Asian conditions during the recent past.
Other than winning the World Test Championships in 2021, New Zealand has won an ICC limited over competition only once. It’s in 2000 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan is hosting the tournament but no one will be able to say how far they can go in this competition. Pakistan is such an unpredictable side despite the fact that they’re the current holders of the Champion’s Trophy.
Saim Ayub, who had a dream start to his ODI career, is absent. The new role for Babar Azam to open with Fakhar Zaman is a doubled edged sward because if Baber loses his wicket to the new ball, it’s going to be a major drawback to them.
Bangladesh will be the whipping boys of the group.
Litton Das has been dropped due to poor form and a consistent performer Tamim Iqbal has retired from international cricket. Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar usually open the innings and Tanzid is a risky player. He goes for his shots and you cannot rely on him. Najmul Shanto, the man they can trust at number three, usually takes his time before launching the attack.
Shakib al Hasan is not there but old solders Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah are there. They do have some variety in pace bowling too. Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana’s raw pace can create opportunities at unexpected moments.
Leg spinner Rishad Hossain or left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, will bowl alongside Mehidy Hassan Miraz, who is the most experienced of all. However, the biggest question is whether Bangladesh batters can put enough runs on the board. A total of 260 is not enough to win a One Day game anymore. This is a 340 plus world.
England qualified to the Champions Trophy by a wisher, being the eighth team after the World Cup. Since then, they lost three and won one series. Can their current performance make a birth in the semi finals of the Champions Trophy is a big question.
Afghanistan is a team that has not much facilities but the enthusiasm. They often create upsets and surprises. In a group which has Australia and South Africa, these little boys from the Asia cannot be written off. If not for that sensational innings from Glenn Maxwell in the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan could have been in the semifinals of the 2023 World Cup.
The biggest strength of the Afghanistan team is their all-rounders. Afghans are more used to T20 cricket but in a tournament which has semi finals someone can label them as a dark horse.
Australia going into the Champion’s Trophy with back to ack loses to Sri Lanka. However, during the two match ODI series, the Aussies did more experiments than trying to win the series.
The Aussies are a professional unit and they’re really clinical on their job. The biggest problem for them is the unavailability of captain Pat Cummins, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh. However, Australia has proved that there are enough youngsters to fill gaps when they come to the big stage.
South Africa is the team that least talked about.
South Africa is labeled as chokers in almost all ICC tournaments but none has to forget that they’re the winners of 1998 Wills Trophy. It was the first ICC knock out tournament held in Bangladesh. South Arica won the tournament under the captaincy of Hansie Cronje, who is no more. Yet, the unbelievable fact is that South Africa has reached playoff stages in 14 of the 25 ICC events from the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
South Africa has lost seven back to back One Dayers and their form has been worse. They have lost to Ireland, who are not in the Champions Trophy either. However, none of those losses have been suffered by their full-strength. The leading players were playing franchise T20 tournaments rather than representing their nation and that will be different in Pakistan.
The beauty of One Day Cricket is that its everlasting unpredictability over half a century.
A player with never say dies attitude can turn the game upside down single handedly. Sri Lankans saw its best example at R. Premadasa Stadium on last Wednesday as Charith Asalanka slammed 127 against the World Champions and won the match for Sri Lanka.
Unfortunately, Sri Lankans are not featured in this tournament.
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