Posted by “I’ve always enjoyed 50-over cricket,” said Jos Buttler this week. “It’s always been one of my favourite formats.” Really, Jos? You don’t say. One of your favourites? Would it make your top three?
Speaking of third-bests, the Champions Trophy looms, well, not large exactly, given its status as very much the bronze medallist out of the three regular international tournaments. It looms medium-sized. It looms ignorably, if you were feeling unkind.
History does however suggest that it can be a fun thing. We still rather like the middle format when the time and place is right. It’s where you get overlap. It’s the place where the stars of the other two formats meet.
Is the Champions Trophy the right time and place though? Kinda. We’d argue it showcases the one-day international at its second-best. Unlike the T20 World Cup – which comes around so often that you can legitimately write a preview of the next one if you for some reason don’t fancy covering the final of the current one – the 50-over World Cup is still only once ever four years. This means that the Champions Trophy, while not quite the real thing, can serve as a half-decent Methadone.
England’s three group stage games – against Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa – will take place in Lahore, so the 50-over leg of their current India tour represents decently-relevant preparation, all things considered.
Preparation for the preparation
England have lost today and there’s a good chance that’ll hold true even if you don’t read this article until Sunday. England don’t win one-day series in India too often. The Guardian’s Taha Hashim reports the last such result came 40 years ago.
They didn’t win the T20 series either, going down 4-1. How relevant is that? Well, the lengthening of format has meant just one meaningful change for England: Joe Root is now in the squad. He made 19 off 31 balls today, but we wouldn’t bank on him continuing to play so ineffectually. Joe tends to work things out.
India have had a bit more staff turnover. Out goes Abhishek Sharma, who made 79 off 34 balls in the first T20 and 135 off 54 balls in the last one. So too Tilak Varma who made an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls in the second match.
They are replaced by the legends: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Rohit continued his stellar recent form today, making 2 off 7 balls, having made 3 and 28 when he turned out for Mumbai last week for the first time in 10 years. Kohli missed the game with a knee injury after scoring six whole runs in his first appearance for Delhi for 12 years.
Shubman Gill also missed the T20s. He made 87.
Ravindra Jadeja, who’s retired from T20s, took 3-26.
Champions Trophy prospects
India can improve.
England can certainly improve.
It’s worth mentioning here that while the Champions Trophy is, on paper, the first global tournament to be hosted by Pakistan in 28 years, India will in fact be playing all their games in Dubai. And if (and only if) India make the final, that’ll be in Dubai too.
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