Champions Trophy 2017: Of memories and contenders

Sandwiched in between the T20 format and the Test match variety is the one-day version and it's innate dynamics.That it borrows the benefits of both the formats is an apt reflection of the charm it has continued to extol.

It is in this context that this edition of the ICC Champions Trophy assumes a wider significance as it attracts only the most competitive sides based on a points system of qualification. Hence, it is not threatened by even an iota of dilution by the inclusion of teams branded as ‘minnows’. All matches are bound to be cracker-jackers and therein lies the beauty of this championship.

On the personal front, the onset of every Champions Trophy is a time for reflection. I cannot help but reflect on the tiny little "might have been’s". Those three dreaded words, which upon reflection, makes one a tad sad. For had I perhaps not got a blob in the side game versus the West Indies prior to the start of the 2000 ICC Knockout campaign, I might have even got a game ahead of Yuvraj Singh. The pugnacious teenager that he was then, Yuvraj grabbed the opportunity with both hands and the rest, as they say, is history.

But it certainly did not dampen my enthusiasm to enjoy the ambience and the world stage, laced with the best players on the planet. The camaraderie and the bonding - almost family-like - developed between players of various countries, all staying at the same hotel. My run-ins with Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini helped m revisit U-19 days.

The 2000 campaign - gems unearthed and a battle royale

Our team back then was on the mend after the match fixing saga where we had lost a couple of seniors. As for me, it was just my second tour after the Asia cup in Bangladesh at the turn of the millennium. And I was buoyant and full of beans while putting in the honest hard yards and doing the right things. I vividly recall a night’s stay at Nakuru. We’d camped in the jungle were kept up amidst calls of the wild animals.

India's stint at Nairobi in 2000 unearthed two shining gems in Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. It was a pity that our march was stalled by the feisty Kiwis in the finals. Chris Cairns led the charge for the "wingless wonders” as they held aloft what is till date they maiden ICC title.

A lot of water has passed under the Thames since that fabulous Yuvraj Singh debut. Come June 4, he will be one of the oldest members to play the Champions Trophy in tow Pakistan's Shoaib Malik.

Very many interesting duels have been enacted in these editions of Champions trophy but nothing, to me, matches the sheer intensity in the one that played out between Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn McGrath at Nairobi.

Aroused and stung by a rare bit of verbal volleys from Sachin, McGrath altered his length from bowling up to bowling short to be decimated by the pocket powerhouse. Having lost the plot, the miserly McGrath allowed Sachin to get under his skin. It was a classic duel between an immovable object and the irresistible force.

Champions Trophy back in the UK

It's summer time in the UK and the Champions Trophy kicks off on amidst fears of rains and the resultant annoying interventions. But can one trust the British weather? As they say in the shires, there is no such thing as bad weather in the UK, but only improper adaptations.

While the rain is another matter, it’s India’s first encounter that’s atop most minds as the reigning champions, fresh from a successful and long drawn home season, lock horns with its Asian neighbour and combative bete noir in Pakistan.

Pakistan has barely scraped past the West Indies in the points table. The West Indies, with all their pedigree - World T20 Champions in 2012 and 2016; World Cup winners in 1975 and 1979; Champions Trophy winners in 2004 - will be sorely missed.

Those that followed the 2004 edition on these very shores will recall the remarkable turnaround orchestrated by M/s Browne and M/s Brayshaw. How the high and mighty have fallen in a format where they set the standards and ruled the roost for years on end makes for a fabulous case study.

The last time India played Pakistan, the stage was that of the World Cup, and Virat Kohli peeled a ton as the ‘Men in Blue’ annihilated its neighbours. Although the Indian batsmen are yet to hit the straps as evidenced by their indifferent returns in the IPL, I believe they will click the right inner-switch cometh the big day.

That said, the batsmen would do well to play a tad tight and close to the body given there is always a semblance of lateral purchase for the honest toilers with the ball. Moreover, deliveries pitched up are always bound to elicit swing and movement off the pitch on these fresh and juicy pitches. So, throwing caution to the wind is always a wise move.

Meanwhile, the bowling ensemble looks well oiled and prepared to nip out wickets with alarming frequency as was the case in the warm-up game against Bangladesh.

In more ways than one, fresh pitches with natural intervention balances the otherwise skewed structure of these one-day games - beset with rules going against the bowlers, two white balls, power plays, fielding restriction and the whole gamut of works.

The contenders

Talking about Australia, one can ignore the 5 time World Cup winners at their own peril. In this edition, Australia will be buoyant and waiting to unleash hell on its opponents with a five-man pace attack in Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, John Hastings and Josh Hazelwood. Their formidable bowling aide, their batting is built around the dashing flamboyance of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steven Smith - their most experienced seniors.

Pat Cummins is bound to feature in Australia’s pace plan for Champions Trophy 2017

England, reckoned by many a carping critic as the vastly improved outfit since it's shambolic debacle in Australia in the 2015 World Cup, has moulded it’s side with the presence of effervescent all-rounders in Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali. Add to this, the combination of daredevil openers Alex Hales-Jason Roy and the plucky Eoin Morgan and Joe Root, you have a terrific batting unit. Their bowling suits the conditions to a capital ‘T’ with a fit again Mark Wood and Chris Woakes leading its hungry pack.

That they have been the eternal bridesmaid in the world stage would be an understatement. Apart from a rare triumph in the Caribbean in the T20 format under Paul Collingwood in 2010, their cabinet is bereft of any other shiny silverware.

Given their progress lately, England is coming to a nice boil and look to peak at the right time. After having buried the troughs of a forgettable 2015 World Cup, the bizarre heist at India's hands in 2013 and the savage butchery endured versus the Windies in the 2016 in T20 World Cup, a hungry England seems to possess all the goods and the home advantage to boot.

It may well be a replica of the 2013 final as an India-England match up appears realistic but after having watched and admired the "warrior-like Aussies" for close to two decades, one never ever discounts their presence in a high-pressure occasion.

The other semi-finalist may well be the Proteas - the winners in the inaugural version in 1998. The emotional trauma of their loss to the Kiwis in the 2015 World Cup left a lot of the neutral watchers moist-eyed. But whether they have the arsenal and the desperate desire in these supercharged environments is a bogey and a gremlin that they would well to bury. What better stage than here and now.

In addition to keeping an eye on the competition, the teams will stay on the lookout for the weather as well. Never trust the weatherman in the UK is a familiar refrain that greets its visitors in their summer. As an old wag most famously and wryly remarked, "if there is cricket in heaven, let there be rain".

And if there is a veritable equivalent of heaven on earth in terms of cricket and the veneration it commands, it is in the Old Blighty, where tradition sits in happy coexistence with mind boggling modernity.