Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels that current Indian ODI team that will be playing in the Champions Trophy is “better” than the one which won the World Cup two years back in 2011.
“India has been the team of the tournament so far. They are a fearless, aggressive bunch and I have not seen that from India before. This team is better than the World Cup-winning side in 2011,” Vaughan wrote in his column in the Daily Telegraph.
Like everyone else, Vaughan is also very impressed with the fielding standards set by the Ravindra Jadejas and Virat Kohlis and feels that this bunch is out to create a legacy of their own.
“The young players play with freedom. They know this is their chance to create a legacy now the great names have retired. They field brilliantly, creating chances for the bowlers through agility,” he wrote.
If that wasn’t enough Vaughan observed that this current crop of batsmen are interested in hitting the short-pitched stuff rather than swaying away from the line of the deliveries.
“With the bat, they look to score off the short ball instead of swaying out the way of it. They hit the ball as hard as any Indian players I have ever seen. They play good, hard strokes you see in Test cricket and it looks as if Duncan Fletcher is loving working with them.”
Vaughan, however, believes that this is the best chance for the England team to win a limited overs tournament on global platform.
“This is a great chance for England to create history and win a global 50-over tournament. We reached the final of the Champions Trophy in 2004 but could not quite get over the line. But this team can go one better.”
“They (England) are a stronger one-day side than we were but that is cancelled out by the fact they are playing an India side better than the West Indies team who beat us nine years ago (2004).”
