Familiar foes renew rivalry
Two-time defending champions they might be, but Australia are looking more vulnerable than ever as they brace up for their Champions Trophy Group A opener against confident Ashes rivals England on Saturday.
Their patchy form aside, Aussies have a major worry to deal with as skipper Michael Clarke’s long-standing back problem has flared up once again, ruling him out for Saturday’s match.
The inspirational skipper is a crucial cog in the Australian scheme of things given that his batting form has more often than not been the difference between a win and loss for the team in the past few months.
England, on the other hand, would be looking to flourish in familiar conditions even though they endured an ODI series loss to a rather weak New Zealand just before the Champions Trophy.
But an overall assessment of their ODI stats would reveal that since 2010, England have won 23 and lost only 11 of the 37 matches they have played at home.
A look at the team sheets gives a fair idea of just why the hosts would be the favourites on Saturday.
Australia, a team well past their glory days, is struggling to cope with what has been a tormenting transitional phase.
The side’s batting has looked brittle and this frailty was most recently exposed in the warm-up match against India last week when they were bowled out for just 65 runs while a chasing a steep 309.
England, in contrast, look a settled squad even though the absence of an injured Kevin Pietersen could hurt them quite a bit.
Bulk of the scoring is likely to be done by the top-order trio of Ian Bell, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott.
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Pawar hints at return to administration
Mumbai, June 7: NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday fuelled further speculation on getting back into cricket administration when he said that he may be “in some sports body in the future”.
Amidst speculations that he may contest the Mumbai Cricket Association elections to make a comeback into BCCI, he told reporters that, “right now, I am not associated with BCCI (so I should not comment). I may be with some sports body in the future.”
At the height of the recent spot-fixing scandal in IPL before BCCI President N Srinivasan was forced to step aside till pendency of the inquiry, there was speculation that Pawar may contest the MCA elections.
As per rules, one needs to represent a BCCI affiliated unit to take up an office-bearer`s position in the country`s governing body for cricket. The BCCI AGM is scheduled for September where there is a possibility of an election.
Pawar also said that he endorsed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s view that politics and sports should not be mixed, saying he never did it during his long association with sports bodies. “I have been associated with sports for many years but never brought politics into sport. Prime Minister is right when he says that politics should not be mixed with sports,” he said.
Pawar declined to comment on the raging spot-fixing and betting controversy in IPL. — PTI
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