Best available squad selected for Champions Trophy: Sourav Ganguly

Former legendary Indian captain Sourav Ganguly feels that the Indian squad picked for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England has the right balance and will be able to replicate their performance in 2013 when they won the title defeating hosts England in the final. The southpaw feels it is the best available squad at the moment and Men in Blue will be able to retain their title.

The squad features comeback men Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma at the top of the order who have been proven materials in national colours, especially in the limited overs circuit. It was the 2013 Champions Trophy which changed the life of both these batsmen. While MS Dhoni elevated Rohit Sharma as an opener which paid rich dividends, Dhawan announced his arrival with a couple of magnificent centuries to go with some impressive fifties.

The middle order comprises of captain Virat Kohli, veteran Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey. Ajinkya Rahane has been picked as the 3rd opener while MS Dhoni is the lone wicketkeeper in the team. As expected Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are the two spinners in the squad to go with four pacers namely Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

“I think this is the best squad that has been selected. There’s right balance in the squad. I do believe they will have another successful campaign this time around,” the former Indian captain was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. It was just last week when Ganguly spoke in favour of Gautam Gambhir’s selection in the Champions Trophy.  “Gambhir is in good form, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep him in the fray. Besides, Lokesh Rahul too is not available at the moment,” Sourav had said.

But now he spoke in favour of Manish Pandey’s inclusion and said MSK Prasad and Co did a very good job as he feels Manish is a better option. “Manish is a better choice, definitely. You also need to have a look at how he has been batting. He has been pretty consistent as well,” Ganguly quipped. In the limited opportunities, Pandey has been a useful batsman in the middle order. In 12 matches he averages a shade over 43 with a century and a fifty.

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Ganguly also felt India are the clear favourites for their Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan and they will continue their domination against the arch-rivals in ICC tournaments. “Yes… India are going to win again. Well, for the last 10 years, India have been beating them in ICC tournaments. So it shouldn’t be a problem this time as well,” he said.

Ganguly wasn’t overly excited with Sunil Narine’s batting and felt it was the use of the spinners early on which has worked to his liking. “I couldn’t watch the entire game last Sunday. But if you throw your spinners at him, he will obviously make you pay,” Ganguly opined.