Ganguly backs Gambhir picking Rahul ahead of Pant

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said KL Rahul’s “fantastic numbers” in ODIs might have tilted the scale in favour of him ahead of Rishabh Pant as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter of the team in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir had marked Rahul to don the big gloves in the ICC marquee event as Pant remained on the bench.

“India are such a strong side, especially in batting. Pant is very good. But Rahul has fantastic numbers in ODIs. So, I think that’s the reason Gautam Gambhir has backed Rahul,” Ganguly said. “There’s very little to choose between them (Rahul and Pant) because both are exceptional,” he added.

The former BCCI chief also backed Virat Kohli to overcome his leg-spin woes, while tipping India as favourites to bag the Champions Trophy title. “India have batters in the top-six who can all score hundreds and win matches. Yesterday, India were in a spot of bother, but then they had Rahul coming in. They had Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya... There’s batting after batting,” he said.

Having secured a six-wicket win over Bangladesh to open their campaign, India would be next in action against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday. “India is a very powerful white-ball side. The recent record against Pakistan shows that India have dominated them for a long time now. In the last 25 years, as far as I can remember, India must have lost only once to Pakistan in a world tournament — whether it’s the Champions Trophy, World Cup or T20 World Cup. India are not just favourites against Pakistan but for me, they are favourites for this tournament,” Ganguly said.

England face depleted Australia as old foes renew rivalry

Lahore: An off-colour England and an injury-hit Australia will be eager to start their Champions Trophy campaign on a winning note in what seems like an evenly-matched Group B contest between the Ashes rivals. Both teams have struggled in the ODI format recently, with world champions Australia losing to Sri Lanka (0-2) and Pakistan (1-2). England, who are now coached by Brendon McCullum in all formats, have not won an ODI series since their disastrous 2023 World Cup campaign. The Jos Buttler-led side is coming off a 0-3 drubbing by India, where they appeared out of sorts and failed to match up to the hosts. Both teams will be eager to make their mark in this ICC showpiece event. Australia had the upper hand against their Ashes rivals the last time they faced off in England, winning a five-match series 3-2 in September. However, much has changed since then, with the world champions missing five key players from their initial squad. Their pace attack will be particularly affected as they will be without their famed trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, all ruled out of the tournament. They will also be without all-rounders Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis.