ICC Champions Trophy 2017: 5 things that might cost India the final

The defending champions of the ICC Champions Trophy 

The magnitude and the pressure of the summit clash for the eighth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will be rocketing sky high as the tournament favourites and defending champions, India take on arch-rivals Pakistan for the coveted trophy on Sunday at The Oval. 

Given the quality of cricket exhibited by both the sides up till their journey to the finals, millions of cricket frenzy fans all around the world are set to be enthralled by a fiercely contested final.

Although the Indian team has enjoyed success against their counterparts over the past couple of years in the ICC tournaments, here are the five things that Virat Kohli and his men need to be careful about in the finals.

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#5 Lack of balls faced by the middle order

Barring his knock against Sri Lanka, MS Dhoni was not required to bat in any of the matches

One of the major reasons to ponder upon for the team management will be the lack of balls faced by the middle order during the tournament. With the top three of the batting unit contributing the bulk of the score in the team’s total, the middle order has not been exposed yet in the tournament.

Despite the wickets being conducive for stroke play, this might work against the Indian team if they happen to lose a couple of early wickets as the new batsman will need a bit of time to adjust to the pace and the bounce of the surface which might slow down the proceedings for the team.