Who'll play the Champions Trophy final? Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting pick the two teams | Cricket News – The Times of India
For the first time since 2017, the Champions Trophy will make its comeback to the International Cricket Council (ICC) calendar when the 50-over tournament kicks off on February 19. Picking their favourites to contest the final, Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri concur on the choice of two teams likely to go all the way.
Speaking on ‘The ICC Review’, Ponting said “it’s hard to go past India and Australia again,” while the ICC website added that the former Australia captain concurred with the choice of two finalists picked by ex-India coach and captain Shastri.
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“Just think about the quality of players in both the countries right now, and you look back in recent history when these big finals and big ICC events have come around and inevitably Australia and India are there somewhere,” Ponting said.
The ICC website added that Shastri named England and South Africa as the other two teams likely to reach the semi-finals.
India and Australia, who contested the 2023 ODI World Cup final, have won the Champions Trophy twice each, while also featuring in the 2023 World Test Championship final.
Australia ended up winning both the titles.
Ponting also believed that one can’t rule out tournament hosts Pakistan in their own backyard.
“The other team that is playing some really good cricket at the moment is Pakistan,” said Ponting, in light of their recent ODI series wins in Australia and South Africa. “Their one-day cricket over the last little bit has been absolutely outstanding. We know they’re not always the most predictable team in those big tournaments, but they seem like they’ve sorted things out a little bit.”
Pakistan won the last edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017, when they defeated India in the final.
The tournament will run from February 19 to March 9 in hybrid format, beginning with the match between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi.
While Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi will host matches in Pakistan, India will play all their games in Dubai as part of an agreement between the ICC, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The 2013 winners India, who refused to travel to Pakistan for the tournament, will take on the archrivals in their group fixture on February 23 in Dubai.
