5 Reasons why England will win Champions Trophy 2017

Even before the Champions Trophy started, the mandatory build-up for one more ICC event to stay relevant was everyone’s prediction of who will play the semi-finals. From Sanjay Manjrekar to Ramiz Raja, from Sangakkara to Baz, from the statsmen to Twitter experts and from website polls to CricTracker fans were all in it.

The fact that Australia and South Africa were not even close to the finals was a bigger upset than Sri Lanka defeating India like it was a walk in the park. South Africa not making it to an ICC final is what our parents grew up witnessing, and you and me too. But surprisingly, it was easy to chuck the Aussies out too, more so because they had England for opponents in a must-win encounter.

And mind you, these Englishmen are not satisfied yet. They are looking beyond the horizon of mediocrity and complacency and are adamant about adorning their shelf with silverware they’ve been waiting for since forever. They might appear ruthless and aggressive in the process, and they take pride in that. Just what modern cricket needs more of.

They were favourites to be among the four expected to qualify, and they’re favourites for being the ones to lift their trophy. As they stand 2 steps shy of becoming the champions, let’s analyze why they have a great chance to get there.

#1 Only team to remain unbeaten

Among the eight teams in the tournament, England was the only team to win all their games in the group stage and become the first ones to reserve their berth, topping Group A. Of course, an easy win against Bangladesh was expected to exact the revenge of the 2015 World Cup, and New Zealand were fairly easy to deal with too.

The real competition was against Australia, the other favourites. But, credit to England’s approach that stands out from the rest and not to forget, the rain being kind to the team playing at home and just really, really mean to their Ashes rivals, throughout the tournament.

Despite comfortably saving the top spot for themselves, the English did not chill even a tad bit in their last game. The same fire, same passion and the same fearlessness and no complacency resulted in 6 points and the best NRR (+1.04) in the group.

#2 Most suitable for conditions

A team playing in their home conditions is bound to qualify, right? But, the margin and the manner in which they have achieved victory so far is indicative of how well they know their tracks. Also, they know the weather and the weather knows them because we have no other explanation for why else rain doesn’t spoil play for England.

On a serious note, the pitches are belters and a line-up that bats till the end of the tail is just a bonus point. The bowlers have had their moments of brilliance too (read, Mark Wood). And they have a fairly settled combination for whatever the weather has in store.

#3 A player for every occasion

Jason Roy may not be in his best of forms and it is admirable that England are backing him despite that. If he doesn’t perform, Alex Hales will. If they both fail early, there’s the perennial, strong standing Root. If all three are down, like it was against Australia, you’ll see something brilliant like a 150-odd partnership by Morgan and Stokes.

It just doesn’t end, one can go on and on as Buttler comes next. Moeen Ali is extremely capable with the bat too. And honestly, their batting contingent is so good, it does overshadow the bowling unit. However, the balance is perfect and we won’t be surprised if they compensate for a poor bowling performance with just their explosive batting.

Also, Eoin Morgan deserves a special mention for leading from the front, continuing with Roy despite the failure, for not letting Chris Woakes absence affect the combination and for their consistent attacking approach.

#4 In form batsmen

Again, you expect your batsmen to do most of the job for you when there’s only momentary success for the bowlers. On pitches that are providing around 300 runs on an average, in form batsmen only provide the team with tons of runs, literally and entertainment. Roy has been the only trouble for them so far, but he is the kind of player who will get back to his destructive self after one good knock and that knock may well be coming in the remaining game(s).

Alex Hales fell 5 short of a century in the first match and looked as good in the second match. Joe Root registered his 10th ODI ton in the first and scored a 65-ball 64 in the next. Morgan followed his brilliant 75 against Bangladesh with an even more spectacular 87 against Australia. And, well Stokes, you know what he can do. The rest of the line-up didn’t get to bat, so that speaks volumes for itself.

#5 Ben Stokes! Need we say more?

The all-rounder is the X-factor you need in the team and there is absolutely no one who can challenge the fact. He was nursing a shoulder injury as of late May, but that did not take away his ability, the joy of picking a wicket in each game he played. If that wasn’t enough, he scored a 48 against the Kiwis when the team was 210/5.

The next match saw one of the best all-rounders cricket has seen play one of his best ODI knocks, where he stitched a 159-run partnership with Morgan. And, some of his shots were so good, that all of Twitter was going gaga about the same thing and that, my friends, is rare.

An unbeaten 102 consisting of 13 fours and 2 sixes was what it took to take the Australian bowlers to re-think what they could have done on their flight home. Also, +10 for having the safest set of hands, an athletic body and amazing reflexes. England has Ben Stokes, enough said.