Bengaluru:
Australia will enter the Champions Trophy starting on February 19 without its leading fast bowlers, but his great record in ICC competitions makes him a strong contender to reach the semi -finals from Group “B” with South Africa. However, both these teams will get a tough challenge from England and Afghanistan. The assessment of teams included in Group B of Champions Trophy is as follows:
Australia:
deep side:
Australia knows well to deal with the pressure of big competitions and this is the reason why it has six titles in the ODI World Cup, one in the T20 World Cup and two titles in the Champions Trophy. This is the reason why it is considered to be the most dangerous team of cricket in limited overs. Australia’s batting is very strong. Batsmen like Steve Smith, Travis Head, Josh English, Jake-Fresher McGark, Marnas Labushain, Glenn Maxwell are capable of turning the match dice under any circumstances.
Weak side:
Australia will play their three major fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc, which weakened their attack. In such a situation, his batsmen will have to take additional responsibility.
opportunity:
Australia has a chance to maintain dominance in the 50 -over format and will leave no stone unturned in it. His players are adept at playing according to the sports conditions and the team’s previous record will work as inspiration for him.
hazard:
Australia recently lost 0–2 in a series of two ODIs from Sri Lanka. The poor form of Labushain and McGark will be a matter of concern for him.
England:
deep side:
England have many batsmen. If batsmen like Jose Butler, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Joe Root and Liam Livingstone perform unitedly, then it can be like a nightmare for the bowlers. Leg spinner Adil Rashid recently performed well in the ODI series against India. In the Champions Trophy, slow bowlers are likely to help and their role becomes important.
Weak side:
England batsmen were recently seen battling in front of spinners against India. England lost all matches in a three -match series. Except for Root and Butler, none of his batsmen were seen comfortable in front of the spin bowlers.
opportunity:
The England team visited Pakistan some time ago and is well aware of the circumstances. Root and Butler’s great form is also a good sign for him.
hazard:
Afghanistan may be a threat to England which have many good spinners. Not only this, England has only one specialist spinner as Rashid.
South Africa:
deep side:
Like India, South Africa also has a variety of players. He has an aggressive batsman like Temba Bavuma and Aden Markram and Henrich Klassen and David Miller. He has a balanced bowling unit led by fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and spinner Keshav Maharaj. They should be able to deal with the circumstances.
Weak side:
Despite being a strong team South Africa, he was not able to make it to the finals of the tri -series due to recently losing in important matches to Pakistan. He has failed to win important matches on many occasions before. Apart from this, he will also miss the lack of fast bowler Enrich Nokia, who has been out of the tournament due to injury.
opportunity:
South Africa has a record of performing poorly in an important match. He has a very good chance to get rid of it.
hazard:
Australia and Afghanistan can obstruct his path. To avoid this, South Africa would need a better performance from its bowlers, who recently failed to defend a target of more than 350 against Pakistan.
Afghanistan:
deep side :
Many cricketers from Afghanistan like Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah have been playing together for a long time and mutual coordination between them is very good. Apart from this, Afghanistan will get a chance to play in favorable conditions, which he would like to take full advantage of. He made it to the semi -finals of the T20 World Cup last year, which will act as inspiration for him.
Weak side:
Afghanistan team is entering the Champions Trophy without adequate match practice in ODIs. He played his last ODI against Zimbabwe in December 2024.
opportunity:
The Afghanistan group will play all their matches in Karachi and Lahore where the spinner’s role will be important. He has spinners like Rashid, Mohammad Nabi, Nur Ahmed and Nangalia Kharote who would like to take full advantage of the circumstances.
hazard:
For some time, the batting of Afghanistan’s middle order has been faltering, due to which the opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Jadaran are under great pressure to score continuously. They have been doing this for the last one year. They will surely expect cooperation from Shahidi, Naib and Azmatullah Umarzai.