ICC champions trophy, 2009
The sixth edition of ICC Champions Trophy will be held in Johannesburg and Centurion of South Africa from September 22nd, 2009 to October 5th, 2009. Top 8 countries of ODI ranking Australia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England, West Indies and New Zealand will participate the Champions Trophy’ 09 into two groups, Group A and Group B. The two groups are made from where top two battles in Semi-finals and finally the best ones come in the final. 15 matches will be played in only 14 days at two venues including The Wanderers and Centurion Park. Last time in Champions trophy there were 21 matches played.
All the countries finalized their squad for 2nd most attractive tournament of Cricket word.
Let’s see the squad of All the countries.
1. South Africa: Graeme Smith, Johan Botha, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.
Main highlight of South African squad are Lonwabo Tsotsobe makes his return after injury and Robin Peterson replaces Morne Morkel in the squad in the other change from the squad which played against Australia earlier in the year.
2. Australia : Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
The Australian selectors have named a squad to defend the title they won in 2006 with few surprises, save for perhaps the inclusion of pace bowler Peter Siddle and Cameron White, who have not been regular members of the squad in the last two years.
Australia begin their defence with a match against the West Indies on 26th September, also playing India and Pakistan in Group A.
3. England : Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Andrew Flintoff, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.
England will be without Kevin Pietersen and fast bowler Steve Harmison also misses out through injury. Kent opener Joe Denly is the only uncapped player in England’s squads for the Champions Trophy in South Africa.
4. India : Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Abhishek Nayar, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra.
36-year-old Rahul Dravid has been handed a recall by the Indian selectors for the Champions Trophy in South Africa having not played an ODI since 2007. However, India remain without two of their major stars with Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan missing, both recovering from shoulder surgery and another man to miss out is left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, replaced by leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
5. Sri Lanka : Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilina Kandamby, Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Thilan Samaraweera, Upul Tharanga, Dammika Prasad.
6. West Indies: Floyd Reifer (captain), Darren Sammy (vice-captain), David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Daren Powell, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton.
The provisional squad omitted its major stars following a contract dispute and they have not been recalled, meaning the squad will be captained by Floyd Reifer, as it was during recent home series against Bangladesh. Fast bowlers Tino Best and Daren Powell, batsman Devon Smith and spinner Nikita Miller are among those players who do have One-Day International experience to draw on.
7. New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey.
Fast bowlers Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey have been named in New Zealand’s 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy. Both men are eligible to return to international cricket after they broke their contracts with the Indian Cricket League, the Twenty20 league which is deemed to be unofficial cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
8. Pakistan: Younus Khan (captain), Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umer Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal.
Fast bowler Mohammad Asif has been named in Pakistan’s 15-man Champions Trophy squad despite his 12-month doping ban only running out one day before their opening fixture against the West Indies on 23rd September. Pakistan also take on Australia and India in Group A of the tournament. Asif, who tested positive for nandralone in the 2008 Indian Premier League when playing for the Delhi Daredevils, last played an ODI in April 2008 against Bangladesh.
The squad also includes four players who have severed their links with the Indian Cricket League in batsmen Imran Nazir and Mohammad Yousuf, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, and bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan while Umar Akmal retains his place in the squad after an impressive start to his international career against Sri Lanka.
