The Champions Trophy will be played in Pakistan from the 19th of February to the 9th of March. The PCB has announced the three stadiums of Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi as the venues of the tournament.
Pakistan being a sub-continent nation, does have tracks similarly favouring batting, as the ball often comes nicely onto the bat. The World Cup 2023 which was held in India saw the batters perform extremely well, as Virat Kohli, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Shreyas Iyer, Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma all excelled with the bat and scored many runs.
Pakistan grounds have also been fair enough for the ones who can handle the pace and spin efficiently as the boundaries are short and hence a lot of runs are likely to be scored on these tracks.
Table of Contents
Let’s take a look at the Top contenders in the batting department at the Champions Trophy:
1. Virat Kohli
Legendary Indian batter, Virat Kohli has an exemplary record when it comes to scoring runs for India in the ODI format as well as in ICC tournaments. Home-like tracks of Pakistan will not affect his good form, one he showed in the last World Cup, and hence he might score as many runs.
2. Babar Azam
Pakistan veteran and ICC-ranked world No. 1 ODI batter, Babar Azam has been Pakistan’s most consistent in the format and will be expected to score many runs for his team when playing at home grounds.
3. Rohit Sharma
The Indian skipper is in the form of his life, as he is now also the World no.2 ranked ODi batter, Rohit Sharma is one of the most explosive openers in World cricket. Hence, often making full use of the powerplay to give his team crucial starts he can emerge as one of the best run-getters.
4. Daryl Mitchell
Mitchell was New Zealand’s keyman though he joined them late in the World Cup 2023, as well-supported by the likes of great Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. He also scored a stunning century in the semi-finals against India though the Kiwis lost in the game.
5. Kane Williamson
New Zealand’s skipper and probably the greatest to have played for the island nation Williamson is already their highest run-scorer across formats and also in the ODI format as he surpassed Ross Taylor and Stephen Fleming. With his immense ability to handle spin bowling, he turns a key man to score runs for his team on such tracks which largely favour spin bowling.
6. Jos Buttler
England’s skipper is probably the finest for the nation right now, and new coach McCullum has already hailed him as the greatest to feature in the format. Buttler on return might be England’s marquee man.
7. Travis Head
Head is undoubtedly currently Australia’s best limited-overs batter, as Travis Head’s explosive batting style has shown how promising can he be in the Champions Trophy, as India is now a nest of big scores for the opening batter.
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8. Mohammad Rizwan
If it’s Pakistan it has to be Rizwan, he has been in even better form recently than legend Babar Azam, as the batter has often rescued Pakistan from troubling situations. Hence, Rizwan will be in an even more crucial role for Pakistan.
9. Fakhar Zaman
Explosive Pakistan opener, Fakhar Zaman emerged as their decent performer in ODIs as he has scored many runs in the format for Pakistan, while he was also the Player of the Match in 2017, when Pakistan lifted the CT title for the first time. This time around under home conditions he will be very vital for the tournament with the bat.
