Who will bag the ICC Champions Trophy 2013?

With the curtains closed for the extremely controversial IPL, it’s time for the ICC Champions Trophy to take the centrestage. With eight nations contesting against each other in One-Day International format of the game, this battle between the champions is going to be one hell of an entertainment for the cricket fanatics all over the globe. Now the question that everyone is thinking about is, “Which team is going to be the champion?”

Well, let’s then discuss the matter in details.

The team which I feel has got the most chances of wining the title is none other than the hosts- England. No doubt, playing at home will give them a lot of confidence. Moreover, with players like Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott in the English batting line-up, they won’t have much difficulty in posting big totals or chasing. The bowling line-up which includes James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan looks quite a strong and a dangerous one. Thus on paper, they are the favourites for me.

The next team which I think has got the potential to bag the title is South Africa. English wicket have always favoured swing and bounce and as far as this team’s bowling is concerned, they have one of the strongest bowling attacks. Dale Steyn is the spearhead of this attack and he is a true match-winner. His two pace partners, Morne Morkel and Tsotsobe, have also got the right ingredients to pose problems to the opposing batsmen. The batting looks strong as well with the likes of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers in their line-up. .

The third team which has got the chances of winning this year is India. With MS Dhoni being the skipper, they will be a team to watch. But India’s not-so-good performance in England over the past few years just makes one think if they will fail to create any impression this time too. Moreover the bowling attack is not an experienced one and so it will be a big test for Dhoni and company.

The next team which has got the chances of being the champions is the defending champion, Australia. They had a much forgettable tour in India this year. None except their skipper could perform well. This time also their team is as usual a strong one with Shane Watson, David Warner, Mitchell Johnson and Faulkner playing. All of them had a good IPL season and so they are excepted to reach the latter stage of the tournament.

With Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik and Mishbah-ul-Haq in the team, Pakistan also have a slight chance in reaching the finals. And, you can never underestimate this mercurial team because they usually rise to the occasion when the odds are against them.

So that was my preview on the last edition of the Champion’s Trophy 2013. What do you think?