ICC Champions Trophy 2013 final: It's David vs Goliath again, only this time Goliath is wearing blue!

Over the last two years, these two teams have competed against each other rather fiercely. It all started when India took on England in the World Cup in 2011. A confident India set up an imposing 338 and the visitors came back strongly in a pendulum of a match that swung both ways before ending in a tie! A great match by two competitive teams, but while India continued the momentum and went on to win the trophy of glory, the visitors lost their way in the tournament and went home empty-handed.

Tides turned when the world champions visited England a few months later. The expectations were high, especially with the little master on the brink of achieving a milestone that arguably can never be achieved again.

Over the course of the next two months, what took place was nothing less than heartbreaking for any Indian fan. England stole India’s numero uno position in Test cricket with a thumping 4-0 win and thrashed India in the T20 and ODI matches that followed. A dejected Indian team returned home, having won not a single game on English soil.

Almost a year later, the Englishmen returned to India for a tour. England had molded themselves into a dangerous unit and looked very much like Goliath taking on a depleted Indian side who were struggling to fill the void of the likes of Dravid and Laxman. After a string of losses in England and Australia, Dhoni’s men were hoping to make things right and their best shot to do so was in their own backyard, however little went right for the them. England, led by their gritty captain Alastair Cook, triumphed over India yet again by winning the Test series 2-1 and registered their first series victory in Indian soil after 28 years; the legend was re-written and Goliath had prevailed over David. India, however, managed to win the ODI series comprehensively, but that was little consolation for the humiliating streak of defeats they had at the hands of the Englishmen.

Almost a year later, the two teams meet once more. The tides have turned yet again in the last few months. India have grown from strength to strength, from destroying Australia 4-0 in the Test series to winning all of the Champions Trophy matches convincingly; Team India have developed a new breed of India cricketers who know no fear.

The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who have blasted onto the scene in the last few months and have molded themselves into match winners for India, have made the team a force to reckon with.

While England has done reasonably well in the last few months, they still have concerns over the form of their middle order batsmen and pace attack. The slow scoring rate of their top order and the injury concerns of their spin wizard, Swann, are not helping either.

Inspite of the fact that England have done better whenever these two teams have met lately and the fact that they will have home advantage playing in their own backyard, come Sunday it will be David vs Goliath all over again, only this time Goliath will be wearing blue!

How this battle will be scripted is something we will have to wait and watch.