2009 ICC Champions Trophy - Whose got it to win it!!!!

Its the African Safari - Top 8 teams, intriguing 15 encounters,1 battle royale and the victor will be crowned the champions. But ever since the introduction of ICC champions trophy in 1998, somehow it has not been able to capture the attention it needed ; dubbed as the poor cousin of World Cup, voices have echoed of its irrelevancy and lack of competitiveness. Will this edition of be same, I doubt it.

This edition will be very crucial keeping in mind the ICC rankings. If the kangaroos pull it of this and win their second title,they will remain the undisputed champs of ODIs whereas if the host are able to shrug of the chokers tag and be victorious in home soil, they will be No.1,but what makes this tournament more interesting is that its not a 2 way battle but a 3 way race to the top of the mountain. With the Compaq series in the pocket , India will be eyeing a place at the top of the table and as well as the trophy.

The hosts always stand a chance in every major tournament purely because for the array of talent they have in their team. Smith, Gibbs, J.Kallis, D.Styen, Boucher, JP, Morkel all these guys have class written all over them. Though this is one team which have proved over and over again that talent and abilities alone cannot do anything, you need to have a slice of luck and the proteas outfit fall behind in this department.

With a 6-1 drubbing of the Englishmen , Aussies are definitely the hot favorites. The resurgent Brett lee and bouncy pitches will spell doom for any opposition add to the form captain Ricky pointing and opener Tim Paine are enjoying. One cannot find a weak link in this

Australian line up except the fact that Nathan Hauritz is more of a liability than an asset for the team, but in S.African pitches he may not be needed that much.

This brings us to the third team, superstars of Cricket, India, but it seems they will really need theirs stars to go all the way. The absence of phenomenal Sehwag and spearhead Zaheer khan will dent India's chances as well as confident specially in those conditions. Moreover vulnerabilty of Raina and Dravid to shot pitch bowling is not going to help their cause. The good thing will be Sachin's form and Yuvraj's awesome track record on South African pitches, and one cannot overlook the X factor of the team ; the street smart captain and ODI's No.1 batsmen MSD.

The Lankans though lost out in the Compaq series,coming into the Champions trophy is one complete team. The variety in bowling attack is like any indian cuisine - exquisite.

Slinga Malinga in these pitches up front will be lethal and Murali and Mendis will choke the opposition in the middle overs and not to forget ODIs top bowler Kulasekara. But this definitely is not their best. Dilsan and jayasurya,the best opening bats followed by 2 pillars sanga and jaya will have a run fest. The one problem they might face.

"Too many cooks spoil the broth"

The most unpredictable team of this tournament has to be Pakistan. They will be on a high after winning the T20 world cup. Also former ICL players M.Yousuf and Imran nazir will strengthen their batting though services of Abdul Razzaq will be missed dearly. Pakistan will favor themselves an outside chance of winning the trophy if they go through the group of death.

New Zealand always have been the perennial dark horses, not because of their dark outfit but because the Islanders have a reputation of doing well in major tournaments as opposed to any bilateral series. Past winners of 2000, inclusion of Bond and Tuffey will give them the firepower they were lacking. Its the middle orders bits and pieces players like Ross Taylor, Ryder, Neil broom who have to come of their own in this tournament. They cannot just rely on their talisman Daniel Vettori every time.

You say its Zero to Hero, here its Hero to Zero, Ashes warriors lynched in ODIs. This is one team you have to expect the least. The top order doesn't look like a proper top order, middle order is in total disarray, bowlers seem directionless, the one good thing is that, they will avoid any further encounters with the Aussies in this tournament.

The once Caribbean kings now facing a Caribbean curse(Capt. Jack Sparrow might have a hand in this) as a team they are hopeless, as players just a notch below the international standards. The one good thing they can take from this team is their young brigade of Sammy,Kevin Mclean ,Keiron powell ,Kemar Roach will have an international exposure.

Bangladesh would have been a better choice than a second string WI.