ICC Champions Trophy - The World Cup of champions is here

England’s squad looks the strongest and they can surely lift the cup in front of their home crowd. Home pressure is something they will have to deal with. They will surely miss the flamboyant Kevin Pietersen but their squad is capable enough to deal with his loss. An able leader in Alastair Cook along with the experience of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ian Bell as well as youngsters like Joe Root, Jos Butler and Chris Woakes makes them firm favourites.

Sri Lanka will hope to break their jinx of ICC tournaments. They have reached the finals thrice in the last four tournaments but have been on the losing side on all three occasions. They have a new leader in Angelo Matthews whose captaincy in the recently concluded IPL has been so dismal that Aaron Finch replaced him halfway through the tournament. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara will be there to guide him although their own form has been a cause of concern in recent times. Bowling attack will be led by one of the best limited overs bowler, Lasith Malinga.

West Indies will look to build on the success of the T20 World Cup. They have few of the biggest hitters of the game in the form of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Marlon Samuels. Sunil Narine will also play a crucial role for them although he may not find the conditions suitable for spin, which he had in IPL. There will be change in the captaincy front this time as Dwayne Bravo will lead the team for the first time.

Pakistan and New Zealand will start as the dark horses as they most often do. Both have a squad capable of beating any of the other teams. Pakistan has always performed well in major tournaments and their fast bowlers will again hold the key as to how far they can go in this one. New Zealand will be familiar with the conditions as they will head into the tournament straight after a series against England. They will hope that Ross Taylor is able to sort out his differences with the team and is able to fire because his presence will be crucial in the middle order. Brendon McCullum will be another crucial player for them

The tournament will be played in group and knockout format. There will be two groups of four teams and top two teams of each group will play in the semifinals. Group A consists of the hosts England, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Group B includes South Africa, India, Pakistan and West Indies.

The opening game will see India take on South Africa on June 6th. Other important clashes are India vs Pakistan on June 15th and England vs Australia on June 8th. Semifinals will be played on 19th and 20th June in Oval and Cardiff respectively before the final on the 23rd at Edgebaston. This will also be the first time when Wales get to host an international tournament.

Champions trophy promises to be a great tournament and indeed a clash of the champions!