Champions Trophy - Group Preview

Champions Trophy – Group Preview


Group A –
Australia
India
Pakistan
West Indies

Group B –
South Africa
Sri Lanka
NewZeland
England

Group A – Group of Death…

Rightly termed the group of death, most of the action should happen in this group even thou WI are coming in with a second string side. So unfortunate it will be for all of us to miss out of Gayle Storm, players like Bravo, Sarvan, Taylor, Edwards etc.
Having said that, lets hope this side can hold its own and produce some competitive cricket else I fear they might just be blown out of proportion leaving already tottering WI cricket into further disarray. If the recent series against BAN is anything to go by than one should not expect them to trouble any of other three teams in the group. AUS, IND and PAK can breathe easy that if they play up to their potential this is one Win secure for them.

Pakistan on the other hand is a side which can topple the best on its day and might go down without a fight to any one. The Sri Lanka series gave us a fair idea how unpredictable they can be, they were stream rolled in first 3 one days suddenly to realize in last 2 that they came to SRI to play cricket winning next 2 handsomely.
They have a formidable bowling line up in their Ranks, arguably the best in the tournament when it comes to variety. GUL, RANA, RAZZAQ, ASIF, AJMAL, AFRIDI any one these can make it to any of the other 7 teams on any given day. They have been fortunate to have players back from ICL, giving it all the solid looks.

It will all depend on which Pakistani team steps out on the park on the given day but rest assure this is one team no opponents wants to face in a big profile match such as champions trophy final.

They will be coming after the highs of winning the T 20 World Cup but most teams will also know 50 over cricket is where the real test of character will happen. We will just have to wait and see if they can do justice to the talent they possess.