CT 2017, Final, PAK v IND – India Predicted XI

After 14 thrilling games, the ICC Champions Trophy has come to the one last game of the tournament. It is perhaps a befitting end to the big contest with the defending champions getting a shot at their title one more time. Team India marched into the final of the tournament riding on a scintillating win over Bangladesh. Prior to that, they had crushed the dominating South African side in the virtual quarter-final.

It is needless to say that the Indian team has been in a rampaging form in the last two games they have played. Prior to the game against the Proteas, India had endured a shock defeat against Sri Lanka. The defeat was perhaps the wakeup call for them to not be complacent in the big tournament such as this. Earlier, in their opening game of the tournament, they had beaten and bruised their arch-rivals Pakistan by 124 runs in the much hyped game.

Now, they are going to be up against the same Pakistani side in the finals of the tournament. The hype is again on the rise like the tournament opener, if not more. Whether team India manages to repeat what they did against this opposition in the finals of ICC World T20 back in 2007. The permutations and combinations of the playing eleven have begun again.

That said, here we look at the India Predicted XI for the big final against Pakistan:

Openers (Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma)

Shikhar Dhawan seems to be in absolute love with the ICC tournaments. The southpaw is the leading run getter in the tournament thus far. He has aggregated 317 runs in 4 matches thus far and that is a testimony of how good he has been with the bat this time around. He has been very successful in giving brisk starts to India.

His opening partner, Rohit Sharma, has been no less either. In the game that India played against Pakistan, Rohit had scored a gutsy 91. He went a touch better in the game against Bangladesh to score his 11th ton in ODI cricket. He is looking in sublime form to dictate terms in the final game against Pakistan. He is also a top contender for the Golden Bat award.

Middle Order (Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav)

The Indian middle-order has not had a good crack in the last couple of matches with the Indian openers doing the bulk of the scoring. Skipper Virat Kohli is in ominous touch though. The number one ranked ODI batsman is in sublime form and has been batting with an average of 253 in the tournament thus far. He has got dismissed only once in the 4 matches that he has played. The kind of form he is in, the men in blue will bank on him for bulk of the scoring.

Yuvraj Singh has had a decent run in the limited opportunities that he has got. He scored a timely unbeaten 23 in the match against South Africa that helped the side finish well. Earlier, in the first game against Pakistan, Yuvraj had hit a quickfire fifty to win the Player of the Match on the occasion.

MS Dhoni has not got too many opportunities to bat thus far. He got his only chance in the match against Sri Lanka. Dhoni had clobbered 63 runs in the game and is surely in a good touch. With the wicket keeping gloves, he had a few bloopers in the previous game but has been good on the whole.

Kedar Jadhav has been settling in the role of the finisher. He hit a quick 25 against Sri Lanka and is looking good. Jadhav was the masterstroke with the ball in the game against Bangladesh where he dismissed two key batsmen to set the tone for India’s domination in the match.

All-rounders (Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin)

In the all-rounders department, the team has shown immense faith in the services of Hardik Pandya. Pandya had shown exemplary hitting skills by smashing 3 sixes in the final over bowled by Imad Wasim in the first game for the Indian team. With the ball, he has been a touch expensive. However, the team is likely to stick to his services for the final game as well.

Coming to the other all-rounders, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja make up the numbers. Both batsmen are yet to get a crack with the bat and the team would hope that they do not require their services with the bat again. With the ball, Ashwin has been bowling decent enough. He was expensive in the previous game but had managed to trouble the Proteas batsmen in the game prior to that.

Jadeja, on the other hand, has given sporadic good shows and is looking to aim consistency with the ball. After having been taken for runs early on the in the game against Bangladesh, Jadeja had bowled well enough to claw back his control over his bowling figures.

Bowlers (Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

The Indian pace brigade will be in the hands of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They might get tempted to play Umesh Yadav as well but that could only happen if they decide to drop Ashwin. Umesh had bagged 3 wickets in the game against Pakistan in the league stages. Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar have done well in his absence though. Bhuvneshwar has managed to get some assistance from the tracks.

He dismissed Soumya Sarkar in the very first over in the semi-final clash. He is immaculate with his line and lengths. Later, he had bowled five dot balls in the 48th over of the match. Meanwhile, Bumrah also bowled very economically in the semi-final. Prior to that, he had returned with figures of 2/28 in the match against South Africa. His impressive numbers had earned him the Player of the Match award on that occasion.