ICC Champions Trophy 2009

There has been a lot of gossip on cricket lately. From the players to the matches and also the results of them. Like the Ashes 09, it will be memorable, as England won 2-1 at home and the trophy is now in their locker room. Besides that, The SL- NZ series has been going on as well, so has the BAN- Zim series. Now it’s time for a big event. Something like the ICC Champions Trophy 2009? As many know it will be starting soon in South Africa. The main eight teams- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa themselves will be participating. There will be fifteen matches played in all, and the trophy will belong to only one team. Now the question is, who will win? What is your prediction?

Since I am an Indian fan, I’m supporting them all the way, and its a good thing Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are in the side. But I’m not going into detail of that. I’m here to give you a good ‘prediction and opening’ to the ICC Champions Trophy 2009.

First of all, let’s go into the groups. You can find the groups common on the Internet, but here it is anyway-

Group A- India, Pakistan, West Indies, Australia

Group B- South Africa, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka

Now these are quite interesting groups, especially Group A. I find these groups interesting because they have no underdog teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Ireland etc. and it’s the main 8 that regularly perform. Group A is interesting because of the Indo-Pak clash. We also have no idea what Australia can do knowing their loss vs England in the Ashes. India had a recent series vs WI and lost one of the games, that too by a big gap, so anything can happen there. The two teams moving on from Group A- I myself have no idea. It will definitely be a fun battle to watch.

Group B is particularly different because there is only one Asian country out of the endless ones. In the Champions Trophy however, there are only three Asian teams. My match will be the Sri Lanka- South Africa one because Sri Lanka seem in top form and South Africa are at home and are greater than ever. The two teams moving on (my opinion)- Probably South Africa and either England or Sri Lanka. I wouldn’t bet on New Zealand for this event although they are one of my favorite teams.

There have also been quite a few injuries for players. Like Brad Haddin (Australia), Andrew Flintoff (England), Darren Powell (WI), Rohit Sharma (India) and the list goes on. However, many players return to their respective squads as well. Rahul Dravid returns to the Indian Squad, Shane Bond and Tuffey return to India, while all rounder Kevin McClean will represent the West Indies.

The Champions Trophy is going to be a big event, and everybody is ready for it. It’s just that, who’s going to be named ‘Champion of Champions?’