Battle Of The Champions --- Part I ( England, Australia, NewZealand )
Welcome to the " Battle Of The Champions " which is the preview show for the Champions Trophy 2006 in India! We will begin with the Team Preview which is the first episode of this show! Currently, Three Teams have arrived in India with their competitive squads. They are NewZealand, England and Australia! All these three have started practicing already as soon as they arrived. That indicates the tough competition thats going to be present in this tournament!
New Zealand was the first Team to arrive in India with lots of dream of winning the Trophy! Stephen Fleming who is considered to be one of the promising captains in cricket have expressed his confidence to the media!
Fleming Arrives With Confidence
Stephen Fleming : This tournament is definitely going to be tough as its a knock out pattern! Well, Our players are in nice touch at the moment and also the squad looks a bit strong with Shane Bond making a comeback after long injury! At the same time, its going to be a great challenge for us to adapt to Indian conditions and play. We will try our level best and hope to perform well!
Bond & Sinclair Making A Comeback!
Also a good news for Kiwis is that Bond and Sinclair have been included in the squad. Bond who was suffering from the injury for a long time was atlast fit to play in the Champions Trophy! Sinclair who has been left out in ODI side for a long time is also been called back for Champions Trophy!
With many challenging and promising players in NewZealand side, its never going to be easy to win this Team!
England ( Carrying Confidence from Historic Ashes Win! )
England team, though they are struggling a bit in ODIs, have still lots of confidence becos of the Historic Win of Ashes over Australia. Recent forms in ODIs has not been that good for England but their players are promising and have lots of capabilities!
Broad In For Harmison
Because of the recent failures of Harmison in ODIs, he has been dropped from England Squad! Either Broad or Plunkett were looking to fill his position and it was Broad who made into the squad atlast for Champions Trophy! Well, its a huge opportunity for him to show his talents!
Giles Or Monty ?
Another controversial issue whether to play Giles or Monty in the game still exist in English camp! But as its a Indian condition, well both the players may get an opportunity to perform against Bangladesh! But this is still not sure becos, there is no second chance and so the team selection shd be very careful...
Other Players like Strauss,Trescothick, Pieterson and Collinghood are expected to do well in this tournament! Everyone's eyes wud be on one consistent man, Pieterson and it will be interesting to see him playing in Indian conditions!
Well, Its still a tough chance for England to survive in this series due to the recent downfalls in ODIs! But UnCertainity always exist in ODIs and so anything can happen!
Australia under captaincy of Ricky Ponting have developed into one of the strongest and toughest side to beat. Aussies have won many tournaments and they are known to win big tournaments with back to back World Cup wins in 1999 and 2003!
Inspite of the good records in many tournaments, Aussies are yet to grap the trophy called " Champions trophy " and now its a big opportunity for them!
Ponting Expresses Confidence
Ricky Ponting : Well, its a big tournament that too in knock out manner, so its never going to be easy! One small mistake will pay u a big loss! Hope our players are not affected by the previous finals loss in DLF and we are looking forward to win this trophy which we havent done it in past so far!
Gillespie Likely To Bowl
Because of the subcontinent conditions, Australia is likey to utilise some of the bowlers who have done well here especially in India! In that category, Gillespie is likely to be placed in Team XI as he had done exceptionally well in Indian tours!
McGrath, Lee and Gillespie are likely to be the bowling combination for Aussies, but still it depends on the wicket type they play the match!
Australia, which is considered as the toughest team to beat are one of the favourites for the Trophy but the knock out pattern may change the game in any Team's side.
Thats all we have from the Battle of The Champions, Part I of the Team Preview! We will be back to u for the Part II when other three teams are announced! Till then Bye from the Studio.
Yea looks good Suren, it promises to be an exciting tournament with the knockout format. Good start with the presentation, Monty has to play for England!
Battle Of The Champions --- Part II ( India, Pakistan, Bangladesh )
Welcome back again to " Battle Of The Champions " show continuing with the Team Preview of another Three teams - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh! Pakistan and Bangladesh Teams have also arrived in India & the Selection of Indian team for the Champions Trophy has been announced just before few minutes!
Indian Team has been announced after a long discussion in the selection meeting considering the downfall in DLF cup. Some suprises were there in selection! Anil kumble and Laxman have been called back for the ODIs and Suresh Raina was dropped from the squad for bad performances in recent times!
Sachin Tendulkar ( One Person on Whom Everyone's eye is on! )
Sachin Tendulkar who has been performing exceptionall well in recent series have turned out to be an nightmare for the opponent bowlers. Tendulkar has to play the huge role in this tournament like WC2003 if India needs to sail safely! Sourav Ganguly is likely to be his partner in opening slot in Champions trophy but it still remains doubtful on opening pair with either Viru or Sourav to open with Sachin!
Kumble & Laxman Called Back!
Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman who are generally considered as Test favourites, are now called back for ODIs. Kumble was selected to utilise the Indian conditions well! Kumble along with Harbhajan may create troubles for batsmen but it depends on the Wicket the match is going to be played!
Laxman is being selected as a replacement for Raina! Raina was dropped due to inconsistent continuous display of runs in last few series!
India filled with talented young team are also favourites for the Trophy but to achieve that " Collective Confident Firing " is needed!
Pakistan with some of the great players like Yousuf, Inzi, Younis Khan are lookin as the promising side! Moreover, they can utilise the subcontinent conditions effectively too! Thier recent ODI form have also been good and this side remains as one of the competitive side to face in the Champions Trophy!
M.Yousuf, Key Player
Yousuf, who looked to be most dominating in test with leading run scorer of the year in Tests, have the main Key for Pakistan! Yousuf is a kind of player who can change the direction of the game at any moment. Inzi,Yousuf and Younis shd be the three main middle order players to control the batting for Pakistan!
Asif & Akthar, Promising Bowlers!
Asif and Akthar, despite of the controversial issues of using drugs, have cleared their bans and straight away got into the team for the important tournament. Asif, who is having a great time in bowling in recent matches, wud be playing an key role in bowling department along with S.Akthar! Also, another Key bowler, Rana who was performing well in recent times failed to prove the fitness tests and hence dropped. Rana is slightly suffering from the knee injury and so its very unfortunate for Pakistan to miss him!
Also there are loads of talents from players like Hafeez, S.Malik, Razzaq and other important entertainer, "Boom Boom" Afridi which makes the Pakistan to be the competitive side overall. The challenge against this team is going to be tough.
Bangladesh ( The Team With Many Dreams )
1) Mushfiqur Rahim ( wk )
2) J.Omar
3) H.Bashar
4) K.Mashud ( Wk )
5) M.Rafique
6) Tushar Imran
7) M.Mortaza
8) S.Hossain
9) S.Nafees
10) Rajin Saleh
11) Manjural Islam
12) M.Ashraful ( Captain )
13) Syed Rasel
14) Aftab Ahmed
15) Abdur Razzak
Bangladesh, one of the teams participating in Champions trophy have the capability to introduce some shockers against the international Teams. This team have won Pakistan in the World Cup and have threatened Australia in one of the test matches... So this team also got potential to fight for the win... This side seems to be a promising side with lots of dreams to shine well in the International Cricket.
S.Nafees, Holds the Key for Bangla!
S.Nafees, one of the upcoming players in international level, have showed various signs of talents in batting and looked to be the most dominating batsman for Bangladesh. Without any doubts, Nafees wud be one of the Key players in Bangla side with lots of responsibilty to take his team to a good position in this big Tournament!
Ashraful & Rafique
Ashraful, being the Skipper, have lots of responsibilities over his shoulders in this series. He is also one of the main batsmen in the team having a great ability to bat. Also Rafique is one of the main players who have the greater chances to threaten the opponent team with his spin bowling and that too, subcontinent condition is likely to be the plus point for this bowler. Along with these three, Omar,Bashar & Razzak are other promising players of Bangaldesh.
Bangladesh though they dont have a great records in the International level so far, they have the ability to play well and bring suprises for the opponent team.... But its still very tough for Bangla as they have to play an elimination match against English side to enter the Prelim round.
Thats all we have from the Battle of The Champions, Part II of the Team Preview! We will be back to u for the Part III with the last three teams remaining! Till then Bye from the Studio.
Battle Of The Champions --- Part III ( SouthAfrica, WestIndies, SriLanka )
Welcome back again to " Battle Of The Champions,Part III " show continuing with the Team Preview of last Three teams - WestIndies,SriLanka and SothAfrica! All these three arrived in India and started their job in practice nets as soon as they arrived.
SouthAfrica ( The Team That Proved " Evrything is Possible in ODIs " )
South Africa, which is the one of the toughest competitors arrived in India having an eye on the Trophy! This team has done well in recent matches and looked promising everytime. Infact South Africa was the first team to chase 400+ score and proved that " Anything can happen in ODIs and Everything is Possible in ODIs ". The squad looks promising with lots of talented players.
Smith & Kallis, Key Players for SA
G.Smith is considered as one of the courageous captains in Today's cricket and also has the good captaincy skills in leading the team and setting the example from front! Smith has been slightly out of form in few matches played recently but have loads of talents and wud be the dangerous man when settled!
J.Kallis, One of the Best Batsman ( Also an Number One AllRounder ) in the Today's cricket, has the huge role to play for his team. Wicket of Kallis is definetly going to be the nightmare for the opponent bowlers.
S.Pollock, Key Player in Bowling
Shaun Pollock, The Most Experienced player in the side, holds the main key in bowling department! His bowling in this age also has the quality and perfection. No Doubts that Pollock is going to trouble the opposition with his accurate line and length.
Paul Adams Called Back!
Becos of the Sub Continent conditions, Paul Adams have been included in the team. Adams has lost touch in international level but still expected to perform well as Indian conditions generally favours the spinners. Along with Adams, Boje is also been included, but its expected that South Africa mostly wud go with One Key Spinner in this tournament.
With Other Talented Players like Gibbs,Dippenaar,Villiers,Ntini and Nel , South Africa remains to look as the Strong side and tough side to compete in this Tournament.
Sri Lanka ( One Of The Tough Teams )
1) M.Jayawardena ( Captain )
2) S.Jayasuriya
3) M.Atapattu
4) U.Tharanga
5) K.Sangakkara ( WK )
6) T.Dilshan
7) F.Maharoof
8) R.Arnold
9) C.Vaas
10) M.Muralitharan
11) S.Malinga
12) D.Fernando
13) U.Chandana
14) N.Zoysa
15) J.Mubarak
SriLanka, One of The Dominating Asian Teams are looking confident to face this challenge. Lankans have performed well in recent matches. There are more talented players in the side like Murali, Jayawardena,Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Atapattu who have the capability of changing the direction of match any time.
Mahela & Sangakkara, Key Players of SL
Jayawardena and Sangakkara holds the main Key for SriLankan side and infact this pair have done many magics for their side. These two are matured enough to handle any kinds of pressure. So opponent team bowlers wud definetely hunt for the wickets of these two! Added to these two in batting department Jayasuriya,Atapattu and Tharanga are also other players who can create damage to the opponent bowlers.
Murali's Magic Of Spin
An Important Player of Lankan Side, Muralitharan holds the important key in bowling department. His spin magic is going to play an crucial role in this tournament. Also Indian conditions will assist Murali in his operation. All the batsmen are well aware of it and its going to be interesting to see how the batsmen treats Murali in this tournament.
SriLankan Team also looks strong with lots of talented players and the added advantage for this team is the " SubContinent Condition ".
Windies Team has shown lots of promises in recent matches and especially in DLF cup, they have the best record of just loosing one match against India in group stages. This team has improved a lots and infact its looking one of the strongest side in cricket.
Lara & Gayle, The Magical Left Handers!
Lara and Gayle have a huge role to play in Champions trophy. This pair have already done in DLF cup and infact that adds the confidence here in this tournament. As long as one of these two stay in crease for long time, the opponent team wud definitely face many troubles. Lara, being the skipper, have the additional responsibities of handling the team.
Sarwan, the Match winner of WI
Sarwan, Another promising player of Windies shares the huge role with Lara and Gayle. Sarwan have won many matches for Windies and without any doubts, he has main role to play in middle order.
With lots of talented players and the confidence of DLF cup, Windies seems to be a threatening team in Champions Trophy!
Thats all we have from the Battle of The Champions! We will be back to u soon for the first match of Champions trophy thats going to be the elimination match between England and Bangladesh! Till then Bye from the Studio.
Superb thread and fantastic presentation as always. Great to see Pakistan at full strength- Akhtar, Asif, Afridi and Yousuf will be key players! Will be interesting to see what final XI Pak use in the CT- Will Boom Boom be the right man to open the innings on Indian pitches?
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