It is Champions Trophy time in England and the attention of the entire cricket world is centred on this tournament whose importance is second only to the World Cup. We have a pretty impressive record in this tournament, having reached the final both in 2000 as well as 2002. In fact, we have just lost one out of our last 10 games in this tournament which is quite commendable.
The loss was against New Zealand in the 2000 final. In the last edition, we shared the trophy with Sri Lanka after heavy rains ruined the final. It is the kind of record players are proud of because in knock-out tournaments, there are no comebacks, no second chances. You do or you die. Our record shows that we have done it better than most teams in this competition. While I expect my boys to take heart from that, I also know that what is past is history and in every new tournament, we have to start from a scratch.
I think spinners will play a big role in this tournament. Why? Well, firstly, the games will be played only on three grounds, which means wickets will not be as fresh towards the end of the meet.
Secondly, it is the end of the season in England, which means these wickets have undergone quite a bit of wear and tear during the six-month long English County season.
We have already seen at The Oval and Lord's how the ball was turning. This gives me additional hope because in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh we have two of the best as well as the most experienced spinners in the game today.
In fact, I can even say that we have the best spin attack in the Champions Trophy where both Muralitharan and Warne will be absent because of different reasons.
Our batsmen have to put runs on the board. That is the bottomline. I don't think there are any favourites in this tournament, but Australia, who have never won this tournament, will be keen to set the record straight. Besides Australia, I like the look of New Zealand and England. Both these teams have a few outstanding one-day players, who, on their day, can turn a match on its head.
The same goes for a Pakistan side which has reorganised itself. Our first game is against Kenya, who, we all know, are a pretty decent one-day side.
We haven't heard much about them since their dream run in the World Cup, but that is hardly a consolation. Playing such sides are always dangerous . Lastly, a word about the ICC Awards. It was indeed a proud moment for Indian cricket as we won three of the four major awards.
