Birmingham: To call the India versus England final match-up a dream one will be no exaggeration as it’s a battle of two of the most in-form teams in the final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy.
If Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men had looked unstoppable right through, the hosts under Alistair Cook had peaked at the right moment.
A thrilling contest is expected to unfold before the curtains finally go down on this tournament that was always termed as the “Mini World cup”.
The performance of defending world champions in this format have been a revelation. Their group of young faces has made the team look strong and has sent jitters among all their opponents. Never before has India walked so confidently onto the field for every match with their heads held high.
It is under these circumstances that England take on India, but with the confidence that it is their home ground and that they would be better placed to exploit the conditions to their advantage.
So far, India has not been bothered about the conditions. They have played in all kinds of weather and wickets without wavering, but they could be put to a tough test by England.
Dhoni is aware of this factor very well but chose to play it down when he said: “We have played quite often against each other in the last couple of years that we now know about each other quite well.”
It is this knowledge about the strength and weakness of Indian players that England are also likely to utilise. The home team supporters are confident that their skipper Alastair Cook, who has led from the front, can cook up a storm. In fact, to stop India at this stage there is a need for strength as well as skill.
England will have to lift their game to great heights to shake off their finals jinx. It’s not for nothing they are referred to as the eternal bridesmaids after having lost three World Cup finals (1979 at Lord’s to West Indies, 1987 at Eden Gardens to Australia and in 1992 to Pakistan at Melbourne).
They also lost the 2004 Champions Trophy final to the West Indies at the Oval. Drawing inspiration from their only World Cup final win in the 2010 Twenty 20 World Cup in West Indies, they will have to try and do it again.
The psychological advantage is that England has more experienced players than India in their squad, and the final will reveal whether experience or youth is what matters to win a title.
Birmingham’s Edgbaston stadium, host to many a glorious battles, is indeed the ideal venue for such a final provided rain does not play spoilsport.
