After a month's gap before starting a new season, a depleted India played a good cricket against New Zealand to get some momentum and move to No. 1 for one day (on 11th September 2009) in the ICC's ODI rankings. After a month's break, and in their first match of a new season, India has done enough to indicate they are back in business. Team was not able to continue momentum against Sri Lanka. The ongoing series in Sri Lanka will help team to gain much need practice before Champions Trophy.   Victory in this month's ICC Champions Trophy would allow 1983 world champion, ICC Champions Trophy 2002 joint-winner with Sri Lanka and the ICC World Twenty20 2007 champion an opportunity to remind the rest of the world how good a side it is.   For India it won't be an easy path into the semi-final stage of the eight team elite competition, particularly as India's group features defending champion Australia, former winner the West Indies and reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion Pakistan.     Key Players to watch:   Let’s have a close look on key players and team strength of India, Pakistan, Aussies and West Indies from Group-A.   India has good combination to handle every situation; there are a lot of players to watch like Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Ashish Nehra.   India and Pakistan the two traditional rivals go head to head at Centurion on 26 September. The Pakistan side has Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. Other players to keep an eye on are Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Umer Gul but Yousuf is definitely a player to watch.   One can’t label current West Indies team as 'second-string'. Their main strength is top players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. These players had good record against India and had always given performance when India is on the other side.   India has good record against Australia in the past Champions Trophies but one can’t take Ponting side for granted. Aussies squad has good players like Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, Michael Hussey and Shane Watson. Aussies performance in ongoing series against England proves once again that they are still tough side to beat in ODI cricket.   Indian squad for Champions Trophy:   M S Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj Singh (VC), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhanjan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, and R P Singh.   M S Dhoni:   Current age: 28 years 67 days Major teams: India, Asia XI, Bihar, Chennai Super Kings, Jharkhand Batting style: Right-hand bat Fielding position: Wicketkeeper Record: 140 Matches, 4602 runs 138 catches and 43 stumps Award: ICC One-Day Player of the Year 2008   Yuvraj Singh:   Current age: 27 years 274 days Major teams: India, Asia XI, Kings XI Punjab, Punjab, Yorkshire Batting style: Left-hand bat Bowling style: Slow left-arm orthodox Record: 237 Matches, 7026 runs 70 catches and 75 wickets Award: ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year 2008   Rahul Dravid:   Current age: 36 years 244 days Major teams: India, Scotland, Asia XI, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent Batting style: Right-hand bat Bowling style: Right-arm off break Fielding position: Occasional wicketkeeper Record: 334 Matches, 10599 runs 194 catches and 14 stumps Award: Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000 ICC Test Player of the Year 2004 ICC Player of the Year 2004   Sachin Tendulkar:   Current age: 36 years 141 days Major teams: India, Asia XI, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, Yorkshire Batting style: Right-hand bat Bowling style: Right-arm off break, Leg break googly Record: 426 Matches, 16730 runs 129 catches and 154 wickets Award: Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997   Gautam Gambhir:   Current age: 27 years 333 days Major teams: India, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, India Red, President's XI, Batting style: Left-hand bat Bowling style: Leg break Record: 78 Matches, 2594 runs 24 catches   Harbhanjan … [Read more...]