The Favourites Crash Out

If someone asked you the question: “Who is going to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2009?” before the start of the tournament, chances are that you would have picked one team among India, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The sad part is, none of the three teams have even made it to the Semi finals. South Africa had not played cricket for quite a while before the start of the tournament, but the home advantage gave them an edge; India came off a wonderful series win in Sri Lanka, which pole vaulted them to the top of the ICC ODI rankings and Sri Lanka were a very good in form ODI outfit. What went wrong then? Are the teams to blame for their lackluster performance, or is it the format of the tournament (one loss and you are in trouble). The former seems more apt in this case where the teams have themselves to blame.

In Group A, India seemed totally out of sorts in their game against Pakistan, lacked application and their game against Australia was washed out (remember Australia were in a very strong position to pull off a victory). They then had to beat West Indies by a handsome margin, and hope Australia lost to Pakistan. Australia won a cliffhanger of a contest and India were shown the door. The victory meant that Australia finished top of Group A and set up a Semi Final clash with their rivals England.

In Group B, Sri Lanka had a good game against South Africa and South Africa beat New Zealand. However, there was a surprise package in their group. England, who came into the tournament on the back of a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Australia, were by far the best team in the group stage. They registered comprehensive victories against Sri Lanka and South Africa and were the first team in the tournament to book their place in the Semi Finals. New Zealand also won two games and eventually finished top of group B thanks to a superior net run rate compared to that of England. South Africa and Sri Lanka were thus knocked out. The favorites were gone.

This makes for an interesting Semi Finals line up and it is really hard to pick a winner. All four teams are currently playing very good cricket and it is anybody’s trophy to win. Let us wait and watch.

Cheers,

Aswath