Strong Team: One bad ball and a near-perfect tournament in the 2017 Champions Trophy was ruined. If Jasprit Bumrah had not stepped over the line that day at the Oval, Fakhar Zaman would have been out for just 3 runs. But instead, Zaman went on to score a century in the final, changing the game completely.

Something similar happened in 2019 at Old Trafford. MS Dhoni was just a fraction of a second late while running, and New Zealand took India’s chance away. Again in 2023, in Ahmedabad, one bad batting session ruined what had been a nearly perfect tournament. India did not win in 2023, but they were still the best team in the world, just like in 2017 and 2019.

Now, it’s another big One-Day tournament, and India is the team to beat. Since the 2017 Champions Trophy final, India has won 17 out of 20 ODIs in ICC events—more than any other team. All eyes will be on them in Dubai, where they will face their biggest rivals, Pakistan, on March 23. But for Rohit Sharma, the most important date is March 9—the final. This is their chance to make up for past losses.

Recent Form: W, W, W, L, L (last five ODIs)

India has not played many ODIs since the 2023 World Cup. They lost a series in Sri Lanka but then won against England at home. Beyond that, there’s not much to discuss.

Strong Team India’s Squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Strong Team: One big surprise in the squad is the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who is currently the best bowler in the world. There are also five spinners, which some may question, but Rohit Sharma has a habit of picking the right team for big tournaments.