The ICC Champions Trophy 2006 is to be held in India
later this year in September. Who could win the coveted cricket
trophy this time? Who could be the favourites to win this prestigious cricket title
this time?I have rated the teams according to their strenghts and
weaknesses.The team which is most probably to win the title(i.e) Australia
is placed at the top while the least probable team to win
the title(i.e)England is at the bottom.These are just my views and I request you
to share your views with me by using the comments section at the end
of this article.Let your views be sound and just not motivated by blind
reasons.Justify your views if you support a team. Do participate in the cricket
poll at the bottom.
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AUSTRALIA
Regardless of any cricket tournament, the
Aussie cricket team start as clear favourites just because of their proven
ability and sound cricketing tactics.With Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke and
Mike Hussey forming a dangerous middle order combination of contemporary cricket
and with Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath sharing the new ball, they always start as
favourites.Not to mention about the exploits of Adam Gilchrist and Ricky
Ponting.But their biggest problem would be to confront spin bowling in the
sub-continent on turning tracks and to contain free flowing batsman on placid
tracks.Further, they haven't won the tournament so far, in fact they haven't
even been in the finals, is quite surprising.With Glenn McGrath's presence being
in doubt, they could fact tough competition from SountrAfrica, India and
NewZealand
SOUTH AFRICA
The way the Proteas have played cricket
over the last year suggests they could be among the frontrunners for this
coveted cricket title.The pace bowling trio of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya
Ntini and Andre Nel may trouble batsman of any class even on placid tracks
provided they find their rhythm.With players like Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp
and Ashwell Prince their batting also doesn't seem to be a worry.With their last
win being touted as cricket's greatest one day match ever, they are all set to
make a roll.The only drawback,perhaps annoying, is their ability to play quality
spin which were revealed in their last outing in India.With the Sri Lanka tour
before the Champions Trophy, they have got a good chance of experimenting
out. On lively tracks, they are on par with the Aussie cricket team, but
they are unlikely to get such tracks on India.The absence of Herschelle Gibbs
may also affect them.
INDIA
Many may be surprised by the fact, I have
preferred India after Australia and South Africa to win the title ahead of
Pakistan and NewZealand inspite of them being hit out by the Windies cricket
team in the recent ODI series, but they still remain a formidable cricket team
in the subcontinent. Think of Sehwag and Dhoni hitting out helpless bowlers on
flat tracks. With Tendulkar to return and Dravid and Yuvraj in the middle, its
going to be tough for the other teams to contain them.With the pitch offering
turn, even Tendulkar and Sehwag would be unplayable in the late night.Toss is
going to play a crucial role.If they lose the toss on a placid track, the
opposition is going to kill them.And after all if they are going to get a hard,
lively track only Dravid and Yuvraj seems to adopt well.But nevertheless , the
Indian Cricket team has a good chance of winning the title.They may possibly
face the South African Cricket team in the semifinal.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan is a formidable outfit in the
subcontinent.Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Mohammed Yousuf are going to be the key for
batting while Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik are going to play a greater role
with the ball than Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif. Their real problem is their
inability to play on hard, faster tracks and to chase down big targets off
quality bowling attacks. Their batting line up also looks fragile except for
Inzamam and they have a perennial problem with the moving delivery. They should
also improve their fielding as catches win cricket matches.Their cricket tour
against England may well give us an indication of their overall abilities.I feel
they can overcome New Zealand and possibly setup a semifinal clash with
Australia.
SRI LANKA
Both by present form and past record, they
are a real tough cricket side in the subcontinent.Though they were just hit out
by India in the recent ODI series, they are still going to trouble the top teams
with their spin attack.The return of Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Attapattu may
further boost the team prospects with Muralitharan holding the key in the
bowling department. I expect them to top in the qualifiers. But they may face a
tough fight in the league stage with South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand. The
match between Pakistan and SriLanka may be the match to watch out for.
NEW ZEALAND
The Kiwi Cricket team is a good opposition
and they are a better overall cricket team than India, Pakistand and SriLanka
but for long enough they have struggled to play on turning tracks.They have
world class bowlers in Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori but any injury to Bond may
deprive them of early wickets.Daniel Vettori is not going to be a big threat for
India or Pakistan.They may have a long tail with Vettori at 8 and Franklin at 9
but they seem to lack a batsman who could stay there till the end.Astle and
Fleming is the key.As regards bowling, traditionally the Kiwi bowlers are line
and length bowlers and they can't do with it in India.Futher their group also
seems to be a bit difficult with South Africa, Pakistan and possibly
SriLanka.They have a chance if West Indies join their group from qualifiers as
the cricket match between Pakistan and NewZealand would be the match to watch
out for.
WEST INDIES
They may have won the ODI series against
India but still remain circumspect against good bowling.Their bowling also
doesn't look impressive.I still think they have a chance if they are grouped
with England, India and Australia as they have the ability to surprise India.But
if they are clubbed with South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistand then its going
to be mayhem.But the win against India have provided them a spark and after all
they are the current holders of the presitigious cricket title.
ENGLAND
What England needs right now is a good leader than anything else.After the
Ashes hype, they seem to be losing everything inspite of a good team.With
Michael Vaughan and Simon Jones already out of the Ashes, they may not be trying
too many things and I expect a lot of new faces this time.It would just be an
another disappointing tournament for the England.
Participate and vote in this poll on who could win the 2006 ICC cricket
Champions Trophy and who would reach the semifinals of this cricket
competition.You can select more than one option for the semifinalists.
The Champions Trophy is a cricket tournament that is held once in two
years.This cricket tournament is organised by the International Cricket Council
and all the major nations playing cricket participate in this tournament.This
event is also called the mini cricket world cup.This cricket event is held in a
number of formats which keep changing everytime.The inaugral title is won by
South Africa.NewZealand has won this once.India and SriLanka have shared the
title and WestIndies is the defending champions.This is the fifth edition of
this cricket title.Surprisingly Australia has never won the tournament, they
haven't even appeared in the final while WestIndies and India have reached the
final twice winning once and losing once.This time this is going to be held in
India.This time it is going to be a round robin format.Four teams Sri Lanka,
West Indies, Zimbabwe and Kenya would battle out each other in the first round
robin league with the top two teams advancing to the next round.The topper would
be placed with South Africa,New Zealand and Pakistan in Group B while the second
team would be placed with Australia, India and England in Group A.These teams
would again play a round robin league with each other with the top two teams
from each group moving into the semifinals and then the Grand Final of this
prestigious cricket tournament
The Schedule:
Date |
Match |
Venue |
| 7 Oct | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh | Mohali |
| 8 Oct | West Indies v Zimbabwe | Ahmedabad |
| 10 Oct | Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe | Ahmedabad |
| 11 Oct | West Indies v Bangladesh | Jaipur |
| 13 Oct | Bangladesh v Zimbabwe | Jaipur |
| 14 Oct | Sri Lanka v West Indies | Mumbai |
| 15 Oct | India v England | Jaipur |
| 16 Oct | New Zealand v South Africa | Mumbai |
| 17 Oct | Pakistan v Qualifier 1 | Jaipur |
| 18 Oct | Australia v Qualifier 2 | Mumbai |
| 20 Oct | New Zealand v Q1 | Mumbai |
| 21 Oct | Australia v England | Jaipur |
| 24 Oct | South Africa v Q1 | Ahmedabad |
| 25 Oct | New Zealand v Pakistan | Mohali |
| 26 Oct | India v Q2 | Ahmedabad |
| 27 Oct | Pakistan v South Africa | Mohali |
| 28 Oct | England v Q2 | Ahmedabad |
| 29 Oct | India v Australia | Mohali |
| 1 Nov | 1st Semifinal - A1 vs B2 | Mohali |
| 2 Nov | 2nd Semifinal - A2 vs B1 | Jaipur |
| 5 Nov | Final | Mumbai |
