Birmingham: England skipper Alastair Cook wants to end his team’s 38 years wait to win a 50 over global cricket final. The determination was visible on his face and words.
“It is something which is on our radar and one of our major goals this summer was to try and win the Champions Trophy.
“Not only will it break that drought of 38 years but also prepare us well for the World Cup, as well, if you’re looking long-term. It’s a big day tomorrow, and we’re going to hopefully gain a lot from it if we can play well,” he said.
To win the trophy, Cook will have to destroy India’s top order. Answering to a query as to what are his plans to end India’s strong opening partnership and especially to get the early wicket of the inform Shikhar Dhawan, Cook said: “India’s top order have played very well. I think both top orders have played well in the tournament, and probably that’s one of the reasons that we’re in the final.
“We have got plans but remember we have also got very skilful new ball bowlers, as well. It’s going to be a good contest out there, a contest in which if we want to win the game, we’re going to have to try and get the best of them because we know how dangerous those guys at the top of the order can be.”
Cook wants his bowlers to test India’s middle order which has not been exposed.
“If we can take some early wickets we can put some pressure on their middle order who haven’t batted so much and that could work well for us,” he said.
Cook wants his players who delivered under pressure to continue to do so in the final.
“All I can say is the lads in the last two games under pressure delivered two excellent performances. I can’t see any reason why we can’t do it tomorrow.
“We’ve been playing a lot this summer, and we’ve been playing some good one-day cricket the last few days. I’m fully confident in our guys that we can upset India here,” he said.
When asked whether India deserves to be favourites, Cook said: “They are unbeaten and played some very good cricket. We’re happy with that but our record against India last time we played them in England is a good one. So we can certainly take a lot from that.
To a query whether his strike bowler Graeme Swann may be fit to play, Cook said: “You know, he’s recovering well. He’s pushing close. We’re going to have a look tomorrow. As I said before he won’t be risked if there’s a slight doubt.”
