Bangladesh prepare to take on ‘favourites’ England in Champions Trophy opener

In 87 years of worldwide cricket since New Zealand played their first Test in 1930, the only tournament they have won was when they beat India in the 2000 Champions Trophy final.

“What’s important in England is to hit the seam well”. There’s a bit of swing and immediately things change and you can see the way the game progresses. Test is considered to be the toughest format to play on England pitches that assist pacers with good bounce.

The green bus, decorated with small and medium size Pakistan flags is being prepared in a local workshop of Birmingham, will take a round of Birmingham on Sunday ahead of Pakistan vs India game to pick the fans and go to stadium together.

Morgan agreed: “W hen the guys bat like that, it’s a lot easier than used to be, having Joe Root in the side and an in-form Alex Hales”.

He said that that the last game against India was a good lesson for the batsmen, who have actually never been in a situation when the shifting of the weather assisted the bowling in English conditions.

When asked about the same, Karthik said, “When it comes to India-Pakistan match, its all about who can handle the pressure better. But it all boils down to how you tackle the situation during the match”.

Afridi says Pakistani bowlers will have to bring their A game to the field against a formidable Indian batting unit led by captain and star batsman Virat Kohli.

“I am pretty confident that India will go in as the favourites and come out with flying colours”, he added. India will open their Champions Trophy campaign against Pakistan on June 4.

You have a World Cup to crown the best 50-over team, the World T20 for the best T20 side, but the Champions Trophy is what exactly?

“Some of the Indian bowlers are top-class and they have really done well in the last two-three years”.

According to the 2014 agreement, India were scheduled to play six series against Pakistan, four of them were going to be Pakistan’s home series, subject to clearance from the Government of India.

After their clash with Pakistan, India will take on Sri Lanka and South Africa on June 8 and 11 respectively.

Australia and New Zealand are the other teams in Group A with the top two advancing to the semi-finals.