Ponting, McCullum, Smith and Sangakkara all set to make commentary debut
Internet Desk: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly reckons Virat Kohli and his team will be the hot favourites to retain the ICC Champions Trophy they last won in 2013 in England. According to the Ganguly, hosts England along with Australia and South Africa will also be the top contenders to win the title in June.
Speaking to ICC TV, Ganguly said, “I think India is a very good side as they have some very terrific players. They have some great batsmen in the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Rahane. But there are good sides as well. I think England is a terrific one day side. It’s a different England in the one day format for the last two years. Australia will be good because they have the balance specially their bowling. South Africa will also be a tough side to beat. So these are the four teams for me who will actually be very good to win the title. Sub-continent teams like Sri Lanka and Pakistan will also pose stiff competition for other teams. Especially Pakistan has been a bit hot and cold in this format in recent times. Basically these four teams will be favourites to win the championship.”
The conditions in England during June will favour the fast bowlers. But that was not the case the last time the championships were held in England.
“I think the conditions will depend a lot in England, as to how the pitches will behave during that time. I presume the wickets will be good in May and June. It will gift some assistance to the faster bowlers but will dry down later on as the tournament progress,” said Ganguly.
The former India captain added, “Difference from last time was in 2013 Champions Trophy the wickets spun a lot. Hope you remember Ashwin bowling the last over against England.”
A galaxy of former cricketers will form the line up for commentary team for the tournament. The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced a stellar line up of commentators as well as detailed broadcast production plans, which for the first time in cricket, include Player Tracking for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England and Wales from 1 to 18 June.
Former captains Ricky Ponting of Australia, Brendon McCullum of New Zealand, Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and Graeme Smith of South Africa will be making their ICC TV debut.
Other big names who will commentate through the tournament include Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Michael Slater, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Shaun Pollock, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ian Bishop, Ramiz Raja, Simon Doull and Athar Ali Khan.
Former Australian captain shared his excitement on being part of the commentary team for the first time.
“As a player, I always looked forward to the Champions Trophy. Winning it on two occasions was a big thrill. This year I’m really looking forward to it being staged in England and being a part of the commentary team,” said Ponting
Ponting also added,“I’m expecting Australia and England to make the final with Pat Cummins and Jason Roy, two guys to stand out across the two weeks. I can’t wait!”
Former South African captain Graeme Smith will also make his debut in the commentary box for the tournament. According to Smith, “I was very excited when I was asked to commentate at this year’s Champions Trophy and didn’t hesitate to accept. The Champions Trophy is a great tournament where every team has a chance to do well. I am sure there will be a few surprises and many memorable performances, so there’s a lot to look forward to!”
Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara feels,”The Champions Trophy is a special tournament which I loved playing in and am honoured to have enjoyed success in. Now, as a commentator, I am very much looking forward to being part of the tournament and watching the best players in the world go head to head.Most of the teams have a chance of lifting the trophy so it promises to be a fascinating three weeks of action.”
The eight-team tournament, which kicks off with host England playing Bangladesh at The Oval on 1 June, will see a state-of-the-art coverage which will include 34 cameras at every game, including eight ultra-motion Hawk-Eye cameras, front and reverse view stump cameras and a Spidercam.
In what is a first for cricket coverage, six Player Tracking cameras will be used in each match while the final at The Oval on 18 June will have additional pictures provided by a drone camera to supplement the broadcast coverage.
Among other enhancements for the live coverage will be an Analysis Zone that will add depth to the coverage, bringing out details and nuances for the benefit of the audience. Regular broadcast tools such as the Hawk-Eye will be supplemented by an in-depth cricket data analytics system to be provided by analytics app Cricviz and a player tracking and real-time data visualization system made available by leading graphics company Chyron Hego.