Venues of Champions Trophy

England will be organizing the last ICC Champions trophy. Champions Trophy will be played in three grounds of England; The Oval, Cardiff and Edgbaston. The stadiums has got the capacity of 14-25 thousand people. And it is also the attraction places of England.

The Oval:

The home of Surrey Cricket Academy and the second cricket ground to hold a international cricket test match. There is also another stadium with the name Kensington Oval in West Indies but this one is 'The Oval'. The pitch condition of this ground is not hard for batsman while the bowlers will get a swing. As you can see in the above table which shows that hard work will give good result. As the bowler picked 6 wickets in a match while a batsman score 141*. This shows its an ideal track to bat on. Pakistan team will play its two out of three games here against West Indies and South Africa. There is one good and bad memory attach with this ground. The good memory is the 240 runs by Zaheer Abbas in 1974 while the bad memory is of the fixing of 4th test match between Pakistan and England which was later cleared while England was called the winner. Pakistan pace bowler Umar Gul has the best ODI figure in this ground but he is not in the squad due to injury. The ground will host first semi final on 6/19/2013.

Sophia Gardens Cardiff:

This ground don't have rich history. This Ground host the first test match in 2009. The ground is the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. Its condition is primarily depend upon weather if weather is sunny then it will support batsman and if it is cloudy and moisture then it will support the bowlers. The ground will host the second semi final. Pakistan team has no group matches in this ground. In the past they have played two T-20's and have lost both of them due to poor batting.

Edgbaston:

 The crowd is no stranger to Asian teams specially Pakistan and India. Both of them will find huge support when they contest against each other in the ICC Champions trophy. The Ground is the home of Warwickshire county cricket club. The pitch don't give great support to fast bowler the spinner will find assist at this ground. Pakistan team will play their match against rivalry India which will be the biggest match of ICC champions trophy.  Also it will host the match between England vs Australia. The ground will also host the final of ICC Champions trophy which will going to take place at 6/23/2013.

ICC Champions Trophy-2013 Groups and Fixture

ICC Champions trophy is the most awaited event of this year. The exciting thing about it is that it will be the last champions trophy to be played and every one is excited that who will uplift this trophy. The ICC Champions trophy is starting from June-6-2013. Top eight teams of ICC rankings are participating in this mini world cup.

Before the start of this tournament some warm-up matches will be played. Since England and New Zealand are playing against each other in English conditions so they will not play any of them. According to the fixtures Srilanka will play three warm-up matches and South Africa will be playing only one warm-up match. The other teams Pakistan,India, West Indies and Australia will play two warm-up matches. Some of the warm-up matches will be telecast live on Sports channel.

The warmup matches will definitely give some sort of help to sub-continent teams as they struggle playing in English conditions. The exciting fixture will be the match of Pakistan vs South Africa. Because they will be playing against each other in the group matches. And recently they have played against each other so it will create a healthy contest between these two teams. Though South Africa looks more consistent then Pakistan in the past. But in big tournaments Pakistan team looked more confident then South Africans.

Teams are divided in two groups. Both Groups look balance. In Group A England can give tough time in their conditions where as the past record of New Zealand and Australia in Champions trophy is also very good. In Group B South Africa looks the strongest of all whereas India and Pakistan are considered to be one of the best ODI teams in the world. West Indies in the recent past has become one of the toughest competitor. They have got many individuals who have played eminent role in IPL for their team like Gayle, Pollar, Bravo, Rampaul, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Smith and all of them are in the team so they will give a tough competition to others. To me Group-B is the toughest under recent performances of the teams whereas Group-A looks toughest if we consider team performances in past champions trophies.

The first Group match will be played between India and South Africa in Cardiff on June/6/2013 wheras another Group B match will be played on the very next day. There is no gap in the group matches. The top two teams of both the group will reach in to semi finals which will be played in Oval and Sophia Gardens. The final of this last ICC Champions trophy will be played on June/23/2013 in Birmingham.

Tickets of Indian matches in ICC Champions Trophy are sold out completely

I just watch out in the ICC Champions trophy e-ticketing website and came to know that all tickets of India matches are sold out. The one of Pakistan Vs India took less then an hour to get completely sold. Other than that England Vs Australia is also completely booked, that was expected.

The matches whose tickets were completely sold out are:

It is also surprising to see that one of the semi final ticket is not completely sold out. The ticket for the semi final match ranges from 35-55 euros. Even the team hosting the champions trophy has only one match completely sold out and that is against rivalry Australia. It looks like India will finding a good amount of support in England more than England.

KP And Boom Boom are missed the most In IPL

There is no doubt IPL-6 is going as the "King of Entertainment" for cricket lovers. But in this exciting event it is unfortunate that people are unable to see the superstars of cricket. Kevin Pietersen and Shahid Khan Afridi are missed alot in IPL. The polling is going on in cric info website about the player you missed the most in IPL.

There is no doubt that in IPL currently we are finding some great moments. For example Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar comes out for the same team as an opening pair. Also finding nail biting matches as super over decides the result. I like the one in which Steyn bowls the super-over against RCB. Also some great catches, the one of Ponting will always be remember for long long time. And lots more.

But there is some thing people are missing, And that is some huge names of T-20 cricket. Shahid Afridi and Kevin Pietersen are missed a lot in IPL. And yes. they are the ones who played eminent role for their national team to win the ICC T-20 world cup. In the polling KP is clearly the winner for missing the most in IPL. And that is because KP has performed better than Boom Boom in IPL. KP played 13 matches and scored 329 where as Lala  scored only 81 runs in IPL-1  and picking 9 wickets in 10 matches. Also Ajmal and Amla the two other popular name are there in this poll.

Let us see whether the players will be seen in action in next IPL till that time enjoy this year IPL. And support my team Mumbai Indians!

Pakistan ICC test ranking is in danger

Pakistan had a wonderful cricket season last year in test cricket. They only lost a single test match out of six. This year Pakistan currently lost 2/2 against a top quality side-SA. Now, if they also lose the last one against SA starting tomorrow then Pakistan ICC test ranking may be in danger. They will jump from fourth position to fifth. However no worries for SA if they lose against Pakistan they will remain number one.

Also the worry part for Pakistan team is there position may be effected if India win against Australia. The series will be also starting from tomorrow, and it will be a four test match series. And if suppose Australia win the test match then England's Position might be in danger. So the rivals are indirectly competing against each other for the position in ICC test ranking.

South Africa will earn the prize money of $450,000 for holding and securing top position in ICC test ranking. While the remaining three position depends upon the result of Australia vs India and also the last test match of  Pak Vs SA. The nation that claims second position in ICC test ranking at the cut-off date(April 1, 2013) will pick up $350,000, while the team finishing third will collect $250,000 and fourth takes home $150,000.

Australia Anxious About Ashes

Australia loses the services of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey from International cricket freshly, pulling Australia to back once again. The most important task for Australia is not to face a white wash in Ashes this year in England. Australia have never being anxious about T-20 world cup as if they did they might be the world champions at least once in the format but they never did it. Neither they worry about the ranking in ICC. Also it looks like they lost the focus in ODI's too. They have got an inexperienced team against a well known team of Asia who has been showing a promising performance in the last three years in all the major tournaments of ICC. Also, Micheal Clarke injury can be resulted as a lost of the series against Srilanka in ODI's. David Hussey is regarding to be the successor of Mike Hussey in the Australian team has lot to do in the absence of Micheal Clarke in the start of the series and need to prove a-lot this year.

South Africa and England are looking promising to be the giants of Test cricket for the long term and are fighting hard to maintain it. Aussie is on the third at the present. They will be playing four test matches against India in India before they go for the Ashes. This time they will be playing in Asian conditions and the only well known player is Micheal Clarke who can play well against Indian spinners on Asian track.

Mike Hussey- A shot played by few Non Asians in Asian Pitches

 If let us suppose Pakistan prove to show a better performance against South Africa and India may won the series against Australia so it may causes Australia to move to fourth or fifth in ICC test ranking which they definitely concern before going for Ashes. More over it may causes England to move top at the table. In 2011 world cup these two teams had pulled Australia out of the tournament, first Pakistan and then India in the group and quarter finals of the tournament respectively. But that is not as easy as it looks like, South Africa looking invincible against New Zealand and on the other hand Indian cricket team has lost a Test Match series and One day series against England and Pakistan respectively in the period of two months. Also Srilanka being white washed by Australia which gives them a good momentum to do better against an Asian team in the end of the next month.
It will be a serious contest among the top five teams later on this year in the test format. And the result of matches will concern each other a-lot. Australia although may not be looking greatly to go on the top of the chart but still they will be trying to show some good performance in the Ashes which is there serious concern.

England Played Better Then India

England work hard more than Indian cricket team that was for sure in the series.

There was a planning, hardworking and discipline showed by English players to win this series against India. They give importance equally as they give to ashes. They bowled well against a good paper batting line-up and they bat well against an ordinary bowling of India. Cook's performance was outstanding apart of his last innings perhaps he cemented too much i.e 13 off 93 balls. He has not made a double century in this year which he deserves and at once he was close to it by scoring 190 in third test of Kolkata. He in the mid of the series achieves a milestone of 7000 runs as the youngest test cricketer which was applauded. Ian Bell who was the only batsman remained to perform from England side scored great knock of 116* and a double century partnership with his Warwickshire colleague  in the last test match. Pietersen who were having problems against spin in the first test match came back strongly. Nick Compton showed a good character and he did well in his first tour of India. Also Root who did his debut in the last test  match of the series  showed a great sign of good test cricketer. Considering bowlers of English team; all strike bowlers did a perfect job. Anderson was a master he was pleasant to watch on the flat trick and he proved to be the finest reverse swing bowler in the series picking up all the major wickets of the opponenets. The number of wickets he pick was equal to the total number of wickets pick-up by the fast bowlers of India.Monty who picked up in the second test match dazzles Indian batting lineup who were having high spirits after Pujara scored 206 in the first test match which is the highest in the test series. But Monty pick up Sehwag in his first spell who scored a ton in first test match and then master blaster Tendulkar who is currently out of form. English players started to show some great character from the second test match which helped them till last day of the series. Swann is getting perfect day by day and he is deceiving well from his straight flighted bowls. May be his performance credit goes to Mushtaq Ahmed who is with the English team since 2008.

It is all started not over perhaps they achieved this success nearly after 28 years. And they are looking forward to beat Australia in the Ashes for which this success will help them a-lot. There batting order is well crafted, they have got great bowling line-up in which they have got variety in both the depart whether it is spin or fast. The next year Aussies and New-zealand are touring England. In between that they will host the last ICC champions trophy.

Joe Root:Young English Cricketer

Joe Root-Young English Super Star

It is pretty tough for an English batsman to do solid batting in Asian conditions where the bowl comes pretty low towards the batsman and where spinners rule. Joe Root a young English cricketer changes the ideology. He has done his debut in Nagpur where the bowl bounces pretty low. He surprised and outclassed the thinking of many cricketers from his patient 73. Boycott called him future Rahul Dravid of England; which is an honor for any batsman who opens his eyes in test cricket. His sweep shots are just as perfect as of mature Asian Batsman.This young 6' boy shows a great temperament and is completely drafted from English county.Recently we also found Francois du Plessis- South African who played a match saving inning against Australia in his debut. And he is today become the captain of South Africa in T-20 format for New-Zealand Series.

Well see if Joe Root may get an opportunity like that in future. May be it is to early to say from his one international performance but this will remain in the minds of English cricketers for a long long time.

England Unable to touch 400

Despite of Cook's hundred in the first test match against South Africa, England team were unable to score 400. There was a decent performance from Trott who scored 71, Pietersen who resist 42 runs of 72 balls and Matt Prior scoring 60 runs showing us a fair job. 

But the others were not up to mark, Skipper- Andrew Strauss who won the toss and decided to bat first gone without scoring a single run while Bopara who is in the contest of taking the position of KP in T20's and ODI's in future scored a duck too. Ian Bell was also clean bowled by Kallis on just 13 with a disappointing average of 23. The tail of England Batting, who are so called to be the best in the world scored 41 in all.

This is for sure that the series will remain tough for England despite of having the advantage of home conditions which they normally had against the normal test teams. But this time they are playing against South Africa, having a good bowling attack and decent batting too. They restrict England Cricket team under 400, which creates an opportunity for them to put some lead on the board. And a best way to put England bowlers under pressure because if they don't put them in pressure then they might get themselves in to a serious pressure. As England bowling attack like South Africans is good. 

Let see if England can restrict South Africa under 400 or we see tons from Amla and Kallis or may be from Graeme Smith or De Villiers.   

Pakistan And South Africa Looks for Specialist Unlike England

 Teams are looking forward to announce their squad for T20 World Cup Final which will be held in Srilanka this year. In all of them Pakistan and South Africa are known to be one of the good looking teams on paper. Both the teams announced there probable squad for the tournament. And the most common thing about them is the experienced players are back in to the side for the world cup. 

Pakistan Cricket team has announce its squad of T20 world cup before announcing the squad for ODI's against Australia. In which they have chosen Abdul Razzaq on Hammad Azam, Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal on Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfaraz Ahmed respectively and no space for junaid khan of showing responsibilty against Srilanka in last test. Mean while on the other hand we see a 30 player preliminary squad from south Africa but most probably experienced player will be the part of team 11 i.e Grame Smith, Hashim Amla, Botha, Steyn and Kallis, Duminy. Not sure of Hashim Amla, he may be rested for the group matches.


Considering both the teams it looks like they both have consider past performers of T20 World Cup which is
not a bad approach. On the other hand England has took a big decision by dropping out KP from the squad but that might have its own reasons. May be England board has made its mind about the substitute of KP, may be Ian Bell or Morgan will play his role. when he show the signs of playing for England in T20's and ODI's for more 3-4 years, England Board didn't find any charisma in that. We all know that how professional England board is. They don't have there personal choices. But dropping out of KP from T20 world cup squad may cost them the World cup. As they are the current defending champions of this World Cup. And KP in the past world cup has played the vital part in it.


Do you think it is safe for England to come out with out KP on the grounds of Srilanka for the tournament?
 OR
KP's Job is over?
Comment it!