The ICC Champions trophy is all set to begin and lets have a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each team .
India: The Home Favourites
Strengths:
Advantage of playing in front of a home crowd and their recent record when playing at home. Their big batsmen — Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Dravid — will look forward to playing at home and getting back to scoring runs.
Weaknesses:
Recent form. They have won only two of their last eight ODIs. After setting a record in chasing down targets, the team suddenly seems to have developed a mental block when going after a target as was illustrated in the sudden batting collapses in the West Indies and KL. Fielding is still shaky.
Opportunities: A chance to beat the best on the world stage and erase recent bitter memories. The tournament will also enable India to test their big-match nerves again and for bowlers like Irfan Pathan to get back to wicket-taking form.
Threats: Playing at home, there is always the risk of pressure from fans. Fans adore the team's success, but if the team does badly, they will let them know it.
Pakistan:
The Unpredictables
Strengths: One of the few sides blessed with equally explosive bowling, batting and all-round talent. Generally led by the unflappable Inzamam-ul Haq, around whom the batting will revolve is absent, they also have the sublime Md Yousuf, the gutsy Younis Khan, the exciting Shahid Afridi and the resourceful Abdul Razzaq. The bowling attack looks frightening with Shoaib Akhtar, Md Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Naved-ul Hasan, Umar Gul, Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Md Hafeez.
Weaknesses: The Oval Test hangover is still bothering the Pakistanis. There are also rumours of problems between Bob Woolmer and the rest of the team.The PCB chairman Sharyar Khan has resigned today and after some problems Younis Khan is back to captaincy.
Opportunities: Like Australia, they have somehow never done well in the Champions Trophy. In case they meet India, it is a good chance for them to extract revenge for the 1-4 defeat they suffered at home in February. Threats: The unpredictability factor somehow refuses to leave them. If they play badly one day, they might just play worse the following day. And their fielding just went from bad to worse against India and England.
England:
The Outsiders
Strengths: A young and talented squad high on confidence thanks to the side's 2-2 draw in ODIs against Pakistan at home. With Andrew Flintoff in charge, the side won't be lacking in inspiration either as the burly all-rounder showed in the Test win at Mumbai last season.
Weaknesses: The bowling. It came apart when they were in India last season. Harmison and Flintoff desperately need support as Matthew Hoggard is being preserved for the Ashes. The selectors seem to have blundered by not selecting Monty Panesar.
Opportunities: To prove that a young team with little experience can still win matches on exuberance and perseverance. They also meet a low-on-confidence India in the first match.
Threats: Being a young team, they can come apart if under pressure. Some members may be thinking about the Ashes series.
Australia:
The Favourites
Strengths: Explosive batting and bowling combinations and the ability to exert pressure on opponents. The DLF Cup tri-series in Kuala Lumpur provided ample evidence of how even their
second XI (with guys like Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin) is battle-ready. Adam Gilchrist will be back to provide the early momentum and with Ricky Ponting, the two Michaels - Clarke and Hussey - and Andrew Symonds in charge of the middle-order, the batting looks scary. With bowlers like Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, the fear factor will only increase. Their great fielding is almost like an extra bowler.
Weaknesses: At the risk of nit-picking, the top-order batting. Without Hayden it looks dodgy. Fall of quick wickets could stifle the freedom of strokeplayers like Hussey and Symonds in the middle-order as was seen in KL.
Opportunities: The world champions have a great chance to correct their average performance in the tournament. They have never advanced beyond the semifinals. But if they beat sides convincingly, it will create indelible scars on opponents.
Threats: Their over-confidence and a tendency to play for a situation six months down the line. In ODIs, it's the here and now that counts.
Sri Lanka:
The Form Team
Strengths: An inspired leader in Mahela Jayawardene, who has suddenly infused new life into the team, and a huge upsurge in their ODI form after thrashing England 5-0 in England. Not only is Jayawardene in good captaincy form, he is also in outstanding batting form. With Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and old fox Sanath Jayasuriya also around, Sri Lanka are well placed to score big. Vaas, Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando are bowlers with good striking power.
Weaknesses: They might still be nursing their wounds after the 6-1 humiliation they suffered at the hands of India. A lot depends on the striking powers of Vaas and Muralitharan. If they fail to get wickets, Maharoof and the rest of the bowlers don't have enough experience to contain the scoring.
Opportunities: To see how they perform under pressure.
Threats: Advancing age. Atapattu, Muralitharan, Vaas and Jayasuriya are all on the wrong side of 30 and they may just be found wanting in terms of sprightliness in the field. Their part-time spinners may not work on the flat wickets of India.
South Africa:
The Challengers
Strengths: The team is on a huge high thanks to two 400-plus scores in 2006. Of course neither they nor the world has still forgotten the wonder at Wanderers when they chased 434 against Australia. Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp and AB De Villiers, Mark Boucher form a solid batting line-up and in Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis, the bowling looks menacing. Let's not even talk about the fielding. They'll be nothing short of brilliant there.
Weaknesses: Their track record in ODIs in India is not very impressive. The lack of a quality spinner can also hurt them.
Opportunities: To show the world what they did in Johannesburg wasn't a fluke. They would dearly love to meet Australia and beat them again. They would also enjoy beating India to gain revenge for having been knocked out in the 2000 and 2002 editions.
Threats: The match fixing case over Herschelle Gibbs just refuses to go away and it might just stalk the Proteas again and distract them from their goal.
New Zealand:
The Innovators
Strengths: A team sans stars, they will be a great outside bet to go all the way. They are well led by Stephen Fleming, a superb batsman himself. In Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, the dangerous Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent, they have a destructive batting lineup. Never mind the rough outfields of India, they will throw themselves around and be one of the fielding delights of the tournament. And of course in the pacy Shane Bond, they have a strike bowler who can run through a side on his day.
Weaknesses: Apart from Bond the bowling has too much of a sameness to it. The medium pace of Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Nathan Astle won't bother too many batsmen on the flat tracks in India. Lack of spin bowling support for the best left-arm-spinner in the world: Daniel Vettori.
Opportunities: To show that their lone triumph in Kenya in 2000 wasn't a fluke. The Champions Trophy will also give them a chance to prove to the cricketing fraternity that they can really play good ODI cricket in the subcontinent. Apart from Sri Lanka, they haven't won tournaments in Asia.
Threats: The conditions that exist in India and being placed in a group with both South Africa and Pakistan. With the form these two teams are currently in, a defeat to either one or both of them could see them taking an early flight home
West Indies:
The Defenders
Strengths: The batting. Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are as dangerous a batting quartet you can get, especially when the Power Plays are on. With Dwayne Bravo, Wavell Hinds and Carlton Baugh to take care of the fireworks later in the innings, the side looks set to make merry on friendly wickets.
Weaknesses: Over-dependence on Gayle and Lara. As was evident in Kuala Lumpur, the two matches West Indies lost easily were when Gayle and Lara failed. Their bowling is a serious worry and with Corey Collymore having a long-lasting affair with injuries, that weakness is exaggerated. The quickies also need to take lessons from former greats in not conceding extras. They bowled 58 wides and 13 no balls in five matches in KL. That's not up to international standard and their think-tank must be burning the midnight oil over it.
Opportunities: If they get past Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the qualifying stages, which they should, they will have a great chance to continue the psychological advantage they currently hold against India when they meet the hosts in Ahmedabad as second qualifiers behind Sri Lanka.
Threats: Sudden batting collapses of the kind they experienced in three of the five games in the DLF Cup.
We do not have much to day about Zimbabwe which is at the minima of its cricketing experience and the Bangladeshis who are slowly developing towards getting the cricketing giant in them outside.
The ICC Champions trophy 2006, India.
October 7
SL v/s Ban 1st ODI (D/N)
Mohali
October 8
WI v/s Zim 2nd ODI (D/N)
Ahmedabad
October 10
SL v/s Zim 3rd ODI (D/N)
Ahmedabad
October 11
WI v/s Ban 4th ODI (D/N)
Jaipur
October 13
Ban v/s Zim 5th ODI (D/N)
Jaipur
October 14
WI v/s SL 6th ODI (D/N)
Mumbai
October 15
Ind v/s Eng 7th ODI (D/N)
Jaipur
October 16
NZ v/s SA 8th ODI (D/N)
Mumbai
October 17
Pak v/s Q1 9th ODI (D/N)
Jaipur
October 18
Aus v/s Q2 10th ODI (D/N)
Mumbai
October 20
NZ v/s Q1 11th ODI (D/N)
Mumbai
October 21
Aus v/s Eng 12th ODI (D/N)
Jaipur
October 24
SA v/s Q1 13th ODI (D/N)
Ahmedabad
October 25
NZ v/s Pak 14th ODI (D/N)
Mohali
October 26
Ind v/s Q2 15th ODI (D/N)
Ahmedabad
October 27
SA v/s Pak 16th ODI (D/N)
Mohali
October 28
Eng v/s Q2 17th ODI (D/N)
Ahmedabad
October 29
Aus v/s Ind 18th ODI (D/N)
Mohali
November 1
A1 v/s B2 1st SemiFinal ODI (D/N)
Mohali
November 2
B1 v/s A2 2nd SemiFinal ODI (D/N)
Jaipur
November 5
Final ODI (D/N)
Mumbai
Enjoy the tournament,
keep bloggin,
luv n regards,
gv.
