The Indian Cricket Team in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy
The Indian cricket team will be one of the top contenders for the ICC Champions Trophy to be played in South Africa in September and October 2009.
India is currently the second-ranked one-day international team, only one point behind South Africa. India shares its pool for the 2009 Champions Trophy with Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies.
India have only been holders of the ICC Champions Trophy once, when the final was washed out in 2002, and India was awarded the Champions Trophy jointly with Sri Lanka. The Indian cricket team were beaten finalists in 2000, when New Zealand won the Champions Trophy tournament.
A pivotal player for the Indian cricket team in the 2009 Champions Trophy will be Sachin Tendulkar. The 36 year old has been an integral part of the Indian team for twenty years. Despite rumours of retirement, Sachin Tendulkar has indicated that he is still keen to play right up until the 2011 World Cup. His next goal is to reach 15 000 runs in one-day internationals, which will be yet another record to set alongside a career full of stunning achievements with the bat. Sachin Tendulkar has had injuries, operations and rehabilitation in recent years, yet his form seems undiminished. He is worshipped in India as a cricketing god. When it does come, Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement will leave a void in the Indian top order that will be hard to fill.
Sachin Tendulkar is part of a thirty-man squad of probables for the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, which will be whittled down to fifteen before the tournament begins. Also included is Rahul Dravid, who has not played a one-day international since October 2007. It has been suggested his inclusion in the squad is to counter a perceived weakness against short bowling in some of India’s younger middle-order batsmen. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan were all troubled by bouncers in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in England, and again in the recent games against the West Indies.
Bowler Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of the Indian cricket team for the 2009 Champions Trophy after having shoulder surgery last month. The injury was picked up while he was playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League.
All of the Indian team who won the recent series against the West Indies have been included in the larger squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, as well as a handful of top Indian players who sat out that tour with injury or fatigue concerns. Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina will all be returning for the 2009 Champions Trophy.
The Indian cricket team have enjoyed excellent form in the lead-up to the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, winning series against Australia, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. Their recent win against the West Indies was their fifth series win in a row. They have also been winning overseas, which has previously been a weakness for the Indian cricket team. India’s big hitting, quick scoring and speed of play has influenced cricket world-wide. They will have been disappointed not to win their home tournament when the ICC Champions Trophy was last held, in India in 2006, but they have never approached a Champions Trophy in such good form and with such excellent momentum as they do the ICC 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa.
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