The Champions Trophy, which, under a new format, will feature the best eight teams. Recent form – over the last few years and in the South Africa where the tournament is being held – is any indication, the winners will be one of Australia, South Africa or India.
The stats of teams since the last Champions Trophy back that Australia, South Africa and India are the front runner for the trophy. These teams had won more games than they’ve lost against the top eight teams since last Champions Trophy.
During this period, India has won 11 out of 17 series, Australia have won
6 out of 12, and South Africa have won 7 out of 10 series.
6 out of 12, and South Africa have won 7 out of 10 series.
The eight ODI teams against each other since last Champions Trophy:
| Team | ODIs | W/ L = ratio | Bat ave | Bowl ave |
| Australia | 70 | 43/ 23 = 1.86 | 37.12 | 27.76 |
| South Africa |
46 | 28/ 16 = 1.75 | 35.37 | 29.10 |
| India | 78 | 42/ 30 = 1.40 | 33.87 | 33.69 |
| New Zealand |
55 | 22/ 25 = 0.88 | 31.00 | 34.53 |
| Pakistan | 44 | 20/ 23 = 0.86 | 30.97 | 34.15 |
| Sri Lanka |
60 | 25/ 31 = 0.80 | 28.98 | 28.58 |
| England | 62 | 25/ 34 = 0.73 | 28.74 | 31.40 |
| West Indies |
49 | 11/ 34 = 0.32 | 27.09 | 36.91 |
Above table clearly state that only these three teams been the best everywhere in the last three years having more wins than loss in there bag.
Trophy front runner Australia has good record on South Africa soil. One will find South Africa and Aussis record exceptional if look at all the matches played in South Africa since beginning of this decade.
Teams in South Africa in ODIs among the top eight since 2000:
| Team | ODIs | W/L = ratio | Bat ave | Bowl ave |
| South Africa |
87 | 58/ 21 = 2.76 | 37.14 | 28.04 |
| Australia | 27 | 17/ 9 = 1.88 | 34.45 | 29.19 |
| India | 14 | 5/ 9 = 0.55 | 24.82 | 35.93 |
| England | 14 | 3/ 9 = 0.33 | 27.77 | 27.22 |
| Sri Lanka |
17 | 4/ 12 = 0.33 | 25.53 | 39.73 |
| New Zealand |
19 | 3/ 14 = 0.21 | 27.52 | 37.07 |
| West Indies |
13 | 2/ 10 = 0.20 | 28.43 | 44.35 |
| Pakistan | 13 | 2/ 10 = 0.20 | 23.98 | 38.20 |
The individual batting stats of players in South Africa offer some interesting insights too. For one, it explains – partially at least – why Rahul Dravid was brought back into the Indian team. He leads the averages chart among batsmen who’ll be playing in the tournament. If one looks in the table below, the top 8 out of 10 players are from these favourites.
Batsmen against the top eight teams in ODIs in South Africa
| Batsman | ODIs | Runs | Average | 100s/ 50s |
| Rahul Dravid |
17 | 737 | 56.69 | 0/ 9 |
| Ricky Ponting |
22 | 1031 | 54.26 | 4/ 4 |
| Jacques Kallis |
113 | 4080 | 46.89 | 6/ 28 |
| JP Duminy |
13 | 398 | 44.22 | 0/ 2 |
| Michael Hussey |
10 | 338 | 42.25 | 0/ 3 |
| AB de Villiers |
34 | 1159 | 41.39 | 0/ 9 |
| Graeme Smith |
56 | 2079 | 39.98 | 3/ 16 |
| Herschelle Gibbs |
87 | 2739 | 34.23 | 9/ 9 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya |
29 | 899 | 32.10 | 2/ 5 |
| Mohammad Yousuf |
18 | 509 | 31.81 | 1/ 2 |
| Sachin Tendulkar |
26 | 822 | 31.61 | 1/ 4 |
| Kumar Sangakkara |
17 | 404 | 28.85 | 0/ 2 |
| Mark Boucher |
101 | 1522 | 27.67 | 0/ 5 |
| Michael Clarke |
10 | 243 | 27.00 | 0/ 3 |
| Brendon McCullum |
12 | 237 | 26.33 | 0/ 1 |
| Paul Collingwood |
10 | 181 | 25.85 | 0/ 1 |
| Younis Khan |
13 | 336 | 25.84 | 0/ 2 |
| Yuvraj Singh |
10 | 180 | 22.50 | 0/ 1 |
Among the bowlers, most of the wicket-takers have been the fast men. Brett Lee leads the way with an excellent haul of 41 wickets in just 19 games, with three four-wicket hauls and a five-for. Shane Bond and Makhaya Ntini have
been among the wickets as well. The spinners have reasonable economy-rates, but apart from Muttiah Muralitharan, they haven’t had a lot of wicket-taking success.
been among the wickets as well. The spinners have reasonable economy-rates, but apart from Muttiah Muralitharan, they haven’t had a lot of wicket-taking success.
Bowlers against the top eight teams in ODIs in South Africa:
| Bowler | ODIs | Wickets | Average | Econ rate |
| Brett Lee |
19 | 41 | 21.75 | 5.30 |
| Shane Bond |
10 | 17 | 24.52 | 4.80 |
| Makhaya Ntini |
67 | 99 | 26.75 | 4.69 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan |
22 | 31 | 27.80 | 4.06 |
| Dale Steyn |
10 | 16 | 30.12 | 5.18 |
| Nathan Bracken |
10 | 14 | 32.14 | 5.21 |
| Jacques Kallis |
113 | 95 | 33.30 | 5.09 |
| Daniel Vettori |
12 | 11 | 36.00 | 4.00 |
| Shahid Afridi |
13 | 12 | 37.75 | 4.81 |
| Harbhajan Singh |
11 | 10 | 44.10 | 4.72 |
| Johan Botha |
10 | 8 | 48.50 | 4.27 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya |
29 | 16 | 55.18 | 5.23 |
Author: Mona Gupta, New Deli
