Former England captain Eoin Morgan and ex-Australia all-rounder Shane Watson are hopeful that England and Australia would do well in the event while picking India as their choice to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
India is in Group A with Pakistan, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, while Australia and England are in Group B along with Afghanistan and South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
England, led by new coach Brendon McCullum, was crushed by India in both the T20I and ODI series.
Australia has been plagued by injury, losing four key players (Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, and Mitchell Starc), while Marcus Stoinis has announced his premature retirement from the national squad. Australia also lost 0–2 to Sri Lanka in the ODI series preceding the Champions Trophy.
Despite these performances, Morgan and Watson rooted for their respective national teams while picking India as the absolute favorite and listing Pakistan as the dark horse in the eight-team tournament that started on Wednesday with a clash between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi.
Morgan, who led England to their maiden ODI World Cup title in 2019, India is his top favorite, owing to their recent successful run in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home, when they went unbeaten to the final, and their victories in the T20 World Cups in the Caribbean and the United States.
"The side that's the frontrunner, best positioned across the squads, I would say in India, out and out favorites, I can't really pick any holes in their side. And I know that's been the case the last couple of tournaments they've gone into," said Morgan.
Morgan highlighted that India had a dominant run in the 2023 ODI World Cup till the final and also won the T20 World Cup.
“Then the T20 World Cup, where they robbed the trophy out of South Africans' hands. And you have to still believe that winning trophies and tasting champagne brings confidence because once you've been there, you can believe that you can do it again. So that's why India is the favorite.
As far as outsiders are concerned, I will never rule Pakistan out of it. Home conditions will favor them, and I would say England is an outside chance as well. They've been in not in great form for a period of time, and Brendon McCullum has just taken over, and in a short space of time, it's hard to achieve anything,” Morgan added.
"They have their first match with Australia on Saturday who are a side without a number of stars like Cummins and Marcus Stoinis, who recently retired as well. So I'd imagine whoever among those two sides wins will be there. I think England could go on a bit of a ride, but I'm excited," said Morgan.
For Watson, the abiding memory of the Champions Trophy was playing in the 2002 edition when they lost to hosts Sri Lanka in the semifinals.
"When it comes to the favorites in this edition, it has to be India. You know, they've been bolstered by the presence of Hardik Pandya coming in as a fast-bowling all-rounder. Unfortunately, they don't have (Jasprit) Bumrah, but it's just about the identical squad to what they had at the last One-day World Cup where they dominated until the final," said Watson.
He said he was very confident about the chances of the Australian team.
"I'm very confident about the Aussies, their battings is very, very strong. Their bowling, there's going to be a few question marks around that. But they certainly know how to be able to turn up in big tournaments. So, don't be surprised if Australia aren't there and thereabouts," Watson added.
(IANS inputs)
