Ranking the Teams for the Champions Trophy

First topic message reminder :

Here is my ranking from most likely to win at No. 1to least likely at No.8 .....for the final version of champion’s trophy:

1) England have the conditions to suit their seam bowlers. And have a pretty good spinner in Swann....most experienced spin bowler in English conditions actually.

And have pretty solid batting lead by Superman Cook on top.
They have the "solidest" inning builder type batters in these conditions....KP will be missed....but would have been missed much more had this CT been in subcontinent or WI.

The've gotta use Morgan the most explosive batsman now wisely.

Given that Eng play NZ, Lanka and Aus.....home support, making it to semis is almost certain...I would back them to go all the way to finals.

2) SA: have the innings building type batters ......and great seam bowling...and they have recent English experience.
what they lack vis a vis England is spin bowling and more importantly....clicking / gelling as an ODI team.
They have experimented too much lately and this CT format gives only 3 games...so no time to prepare and sort the combination out in the midst of the tournament.
Kallis pulling out is a blow...yet they are No2 ranked in my eyes. Certainly will go to semis and by that time would have found the right combo.

3) Aus: Their batting isn’t as strong anymore....but they have top quality seam bowling and a number of allrounders to choose from.
They are still a force to reckon in ODIs...and in my rankings certain to make it to semis

4) & 5) are India and Pakistan

I would have rated Pakistan higher than India a month back….now they are at par.

The riddance of oldies and the confidence from the 4-0 seris win vs. Aus and the emergence of Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara ( hope they pick Pujara) has boosted India's batting. Seam bowling cupboard is overflowing.....Yadav is back…..In pathan and B. Kumar Ind has seam bowling allrounders and we hear Vinay Kumatr will be back on the back of his great IPL bowling.

India's problems will be in insisting the inclusion of Dhoni'sn favorite's like Rohit...and general weakness of batting if the conditions are too seam friendly.

Pakistan are the strongest and most mercurial bowling side now and have been for a long time.......much stronger bowling than India and I believe the strongest allround attack in the world.
Just that their batting is extremely inept in seaming conditions....which brings them at par with India on the whole.

6) NZ: are where they have been since time immemorial that I have been seeing them...always the dark horses...always capable of beating anyone on their day and punching above their weight.

Their seam bowling will be more potent in England….but they lack a spinner They need Taylor also to put behind the bad taste in his mouth and perform at his best.

7) WI: They had excited me in the last 3 years with the caliber of pace bowling, attacking batsman-ship and spin bowling, batting and bowling allrounder they have produced ...world class.....and I was sensing a Calypso renaissance.
But they flattered to deceive.....not for lack of talent but rather application/ team spirit.
The happy go lucky brand of their cricket doesn't extend their seriousness beyond T20 and IPLs.
The might crumble in heap from winning situations in CT is what I predict.

8) Lanka: Have regressed....unsettled with captaincy.....conflict between players and board.....and seriously flawed in their technical application with the bat outside the subcontinent

Aus the only casualty from the top 4 ranked sides

Sorry to say but all your top 4 teams barrely made to the semi's or knocked out.

Its pity you rated this Australian line up to win the title ahead of India and the worst is this pakistan team which should have lost to Ireland got the best bowling line up

The two strong teams in the current tournament are playing the 2nd semi-final and the winner will likely take the cup, England is the 3rd favourite and South Africa is the fourth faovurite.

invisiblecoolers wrote:Sorry to say but all your top 4 teams barrely made to the semi's or knocked out.

Its pity you rated this Australian line up to win the title ahead of India and the worst is this pakistan team which should have lost to Ireland got the best bowling line up

The two strong teams in the current tournament are playing the 2nd semi-final and the winner will likely take the cup, England is the 3rd favourite and South Africa is the fourth faovurite.

Hindsight is always perfect
 
I do admit that India and Aus defied my expectations.
The decline in Aussie side has been so monumental and  so rapid that it is sad and shocking.
 
It is hard to believe that this is owing to lack of talent alone....they still have the best pace bowling and bowling allrounder resources and reserves.
Batting has declined but ain't as bad as their white-washes in India and CT would suggest.
 
I think the bigger problem lies in leadership/ unity in the dressing room / team spirit/ discipline / favoritism or biasses in selections.
 
Clarke is a leader but I doubt an undisputed one.....he was promoted by Ponting....but resented by Katich.....Watson doesn't have an equation with the coach and clarke......he didn't do his homework..so he was out..then he is back in as a captain..then he is out as a vice captain also....then there is Wade & Bailey in the captaincy mix...and when you though Haddin was dead and buried he returns as a captain. Mercurial Smith doesn't find a place inspite of his near hundred in difficult Indian conditions.... nor Does Henriques inspite of his real hundred....and then they have an Oaf of a Warner.
 
 
The team spirit, the commonality of purpose, consistency in selections.... seems to be the biggest thing missing....in this Aussie team resembling for now like the multi-factions seen often in  a Pakistan side.