India Snubbed, Pakistan Threat Played Down As Rachin Ravindra Predicts ICC Champions Trophy Finalists (Source: AP)
The ICC Champions Trophy is just about a month away. There were huge uncertainties around the mega event after BCCI refused to send team India to Pakistan, and the PCB stayed adamant about hosting the full tournament in Pakistan. After a month of negotiations, the boards reached a middle ground and agreed to play the Champions Trophy in a hybrid model, with India's matches scheduled in Dubai.
The tournament is expected to be intensely fought given that only the top eight teams will participate in the showpiece event. The Asian teams though will have a slight advantage given their familiarity with the conditions. New Zealand cricketer Rachin Ravindra, however, snubbed the two top Asian teams - India and Pakistan - while predicting the two finalists of the ICC Champions Trophy. Ravindra backed Australia and New Zealand to play the summit clash on March 9.
“It’s always very hard to predict (finalists) that because you always want to say New Zealand because you’re involved. So hopefully we’re there. I mean, we’ll take it game by game, and the other groups, it’s pretty hard to count out people like Australia. I think they’re a really good team, and they’ve shown how strong they are in all formats. Current holders of the ODI World Cup too. So hopefully it’ll be a Trans-Tasman derby. But, we’ll take it game by game and see what happens."
Ravindra will be a key player for New Zealand in the Champions Trophy. He had a great ODI World Cup 2023 and scored over 500 runs and three centuries to take New Zealand into the semifinal. Ravindra, in a video shared by ICC, expressed delight over playing for New Zealand in the marquee event.
“I think it’s amazing. Obviously, having a brief hiatus from the Champions Trophy and it coming back this year is very exciting. I think the format is amazing, being able to essentially play knockout games every single time. There’s context on every single game, which I think is super exciting and something I’m looking forward to."
“You always play cricket to try and push yourselves and try and win the game, so for every game to have that onus on it is great," he added.
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