Two strong candidates have been selected by Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri for the ICC Champions Trophy Final this year.
In a stellar edition of The ICC Review, Sanjana Ganesan and he made the prediction that India and Australia will battle to the end, citing their star-studded rosters and previous success in major tournaments.
The former head coach of India predicted that the 2023 Cricket World Cup champions will advance to the finals of the eight-team competition, while naming South Africa and England as the other semi-final contenders.
Ponting concurred
“It’s difficult to surpass Australia and India once more,” Ponting said to The ICC Review.
“If you consider the caliber of players in both nations at the moment and go back in time to when these major finals and ICC events have occurred, Australia and India are unavoidably present somewhere.”
With two victories apiece in 2002, 2013, 2006, and 2009, India and Australia, the tournament’s most successful teams, will be hoping to add another ICC award to their already impressive collection.
In 2023, the two massive cricketing nations also competed in the ICC World Test Championship and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, with the Down Under team winning both times.
However, the former captain of Australia said that there was another candidate in the running.
Ponting thought that the hosts, Pakistan, might seriously challenge the two teams.
“Pakistan is the other team that is currently playing some really good cricket,” Ponting stated.
“Over the past several days, their one-day cricket has been fantastic.
“They seem to have things worked out a little bit, but we know they’re not always the most predictable team in those big tournaments.”
Pakistan, under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan, is riding high after winning ODI series in Australia and South Africa as they enter 2025.
The hosts will be hoping to replicate the heroics of the last Champions Trophy, which a youthful Pakistani team won, managed by the seasoned Sarfaraz Ahmed and featuring a scorching hundred from Fakhar Zaman in the final along with a fiery bowling display.
The host team, who defeated India to win their first title in the 2017 tournament, will also benefit from the factor of being the reigning champions. On February 23, the two teams will square off once more in a group match in Dubai.
The Champions Trophy will begin in Karachi on February 19 with a match between the hosts and New Zealand. They have scheduled the final match for March 9.
Read More: Pakistan recall Fakhar Zaman for Champions Trophy
