India will be the “favourites” to win the Champions Trophy despite the absence of ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, believe former players Eoin Morgan and Shane Watson. A vital cog in India’s title winning campaign in last year’s T20 World Cup, Bumrah will miss the eight-team Champions Trophy which got underway on Thursday, but both Morgan and Watson believe Rohit Sharma’s team has the necessary firepower to win the title. “To do the runners and riders, the side that’s the front-runner, best positioned across the squads, I would say India… out and out favourites,” Morgan said during the International Masters League’s Captain’s Day event here on Wednesday.
“I can’t really pick any holes in their side. I know that’s been the case the last couple of tournaments they’ve gone into. Finally, (at) Ahmedabad, where Australia picked them, and then the T20 (World Cup) win, where they robbed the trophy out of the South African hands.
“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 are the favourites,” added Morgan.
Watson said Hardik Pandya’s return to the ODI mix bolsters India.
“When it comes to the favourites, it has to be India. They have got bolstered with Hardik Pandya coming in as that fast bowling all-rounder,” he said.
“Unfortunately, they don’t have Jasprit Bumrah, but it’s just about the identical squad to what they had in the last one-day World Cup where they dominated up until the final,” he added.
Watson said Australian teams “know how to turn up in big tournaments” even though they will be without regular skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
“I’m very confident with the Aussies. Their batting is very, very strong. (With) their bowling, there’s going to be a few question marks around that, but they certainly know how to turn up in big tournaments,” said the former Australia vice-captain.
Morgan said the winner between Australia and England in their campaign opener could get on a roll with a positive outcome.
“Outside this, (teams) that are a chance, I never ruled Pakistan out of it, the conditions will favour them,” Morgan said.
“I would say England are an outside chance as well. They’ve been in not great form for a period of time. Brendon McCullum has just taken over. In a short space of time, it’s hard to achieve anything.
“They (England) play Australia on Saturday, who are a side without Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood. I imagine whoever out of those two sides wins, or I think England will, could go on a bit of a roll,” Morgan added.
“Mother cricket always pays you back”
Legendary Kumar Sangakkara, who will lead Sri Lanka Masters, recalled the night when India beat his team to win the ODI World Cup and said “mother cricket always pays you back”.
“The 2011 World Cup… the journey was incredible. We fell short again, but it just goes to show the amount of service that Sachin has done to the game,” he said.
“You know, mother cricket always pays you back and for him to be in that last World Cup and win the trophy, no matter how much heartbreak we had as Sri Lankans, that was an incredibly deserving end to what was an incredible career in every format he played,” Sangakkara added.
West Indies’ Masters captain Brian Lara said a tournament like IML — which will have six teams of former players from India, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa competing — should have been in place long ago.
“It’s the sort of tournament that should have been around a very long time ago, I see that it’s going to have legs for some time,” he said.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar said, “If someone had told me in 1990, (and) Brian, that 35 years down the line, you’re still playing against each other, we would not have believed and that is what this competition is all about.”
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