Despite recent average run, India are favourites
NEW DELHI : As the eight leading ODI nations convene for the ICC Champions Trophy, the talk about title contenders is getting more and more intriguing. Throughout its history, Champions Trophy has struggled to draw enough attention. However, the tournament’s first round being a virtual knockout makes it highly competitive and entertaining.
India, the defending champions, are fan favourites heading into any ICC tournament. This time, some may not agree with this statement. Since the 2015 World Cup, England, Australia, South Africa and even New Zealand have performed better than the Men in Blue in ODIs, and have almost all bases covered.
On the other hand, spinners Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin have only played a handful of ODIs in the last two years and Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane have struggled to get big runs in the 50- and 20-over formats heading into the competition.
Dinesh Karthik is looking to make an international comeback after three years while Kedar Jadhav has just 15 ODI matches under his belt. Post the World Cup Down Under, MS Dhoni’s side had lost to Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia, and two of India’s four series wins came against Zimbabwe.
Despite all this, India have some qualities that still makes them top contenders
‘PRIZEFIGHTER’ TAG
Starting from 2011, six ICC tournaments have taken place out of which India have won two, reached one final and two semifinals. Out of their 38 matches, India have won 31, lost six and with the 2011 World Cup game against England resulting in a tie – a highly creditable winning percentage of 81%.
KEY FACTOR
The mood in the Indian camp is different when it comes to big tournaments. Let’s take the 2015 World Cup. Prior to it, India had been in Australia for three months, failing to win a match in the Border-Gavaskar series as well as the tri-series also featuring England. The 106-run defeat in the warm-up against Australia made matters worse for them.
However, what happened in the tournament left almost everyone impressed -- seven matches, 70 wickets, seven wins was India’s record before they ran into eventual winners Australia in the semifinals.
Even in the 2013 Champions Trophy, India did have 15 good players but a settled 11 was tough to pick. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were left out due to poor form while Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh also sat out on the sidelines.
TRUST IN YOUTH
India weren’t contenders to start with, but Dhoni’s faith in youngsters, especially Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – they were all playing their first 50-over international tournament -- brought dividends as India made it five in five. On current form, Australia and hosts England are the top contenders but India can certainly go the distance.