India skipper Virat Kohli feels England will be the team to beat in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. A Perennial underachiever in the 50-over format, England has made a remarkable turnaround under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan after the disastrous 2015 World Cup when they bowed out in the group stage.
Since then, they have transformed themselves into one of the most feared sides in the limited-overs format. The likes of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jason Roy have totally changed the face of English cricket in limited-overs format and there is absolutely no doubt that they are one of the hot favourites to lift the Champions Trophy.
What makes their chances, even more, brighter is that they will be playing at home, as the familiarity with the conditions and the huge support will make them even more formidable.
Calling them a ‘very, very balanced side’, Kohli said that it would be challenging for all the sides to play against England.
“I think England are a very, very balanced side,” Kohli said at a press conference in London. “One of the two best-balanced sides in the world at the moment. They bat right down to 9 or 10, they are all explosive players, five or six guys can bat and bowl, and they are gun fielders as well.”
Kohli got a taste of the new-look England side’s immense potential in his very assignment as limited-overs skipper when the Eoin Morgan-led team gave the Men in Blue a run for their money in the three-match series earlier this year. In all the three matches, England scored mammoth totals, putting up 350 for seven, 366 for eight and 321 for eight but had gone on to lose the series 2-1.
“We experienced that in India, they are pretty hard to get past, and that’s something that is going to be a challenge for every other team in the Champions Trophy as well. We always related to England as a very strong Test team, but in last two or three years post [the 2015] World Cup, they’ve really changed the way they play their cricket,” Kohli said.
“I don’t think they’ve scored anything less than 330 now, which moves the game on pretty rapidly. It is indeed a challenge for all sides that play against them. Credit to them for shaping their short-format cricket so well, and I’m sure they’ll be eager to go a long way in this tournament as well,” he added.
When asked whether England had any weaknesses going into the tournament, Kohli said:
“Not at the moment, especially in their conditions, they are pretty strong.
“When a side plays in that manner for so long, when it doesn’t click it goes against you pretty quickly. But they have managed to continue that mindset pretty well, I don’t see anyone taking a backwards step at any stage of the game, and that is pretty amazing to see.
“For the whole batting line-up to play like that is pretty rare. You always have two or three guys playing through the innings, but for them, it’s all about attack, throughout the 50 overs which is exciting for the fans and challenging for the opposition. You have to be on top of your game to get past a team like that,” he added.
The tournament will kick off on June 1 with England taking on Bangladesh while India would start their campaign against Pakistan on June 4.