Former skipper Michael Vaughan feels the current Indian team under MS Dhoni is better than his 2011 World Cup-winning side.
Unbeaten India have a golden chance of winning the Champions Trophy when they take on hosts England at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday.
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Michael Vaughan
“India have 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. The young players play with freedom.
They know this is their chance to create a legacy now the great names have retired.u00a0“They field brilliantly, creating chances for the bowlers through agility. 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 wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
England are staring at a great chance to create history when they face India on Sunday.u00a0“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,” he said.
England stronger
“They (England) are a stronger one-day side than we were (in 2004) 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,” Vaughan added. Vaughan feels even if England lose the final, they will be still be the favourites along with India in the 2015 World Cup.
“England have a group of players ready to win a tournament and even if they lose on Sunday, I put them down as one of the favourites alongside India for the 2015 World Cup.
In Australian conditions this England bowling attack will be a huge threat. It is the first time since 1992, when Graham Gooch’s team reached the World Cup final, that we have had such a good one-day side,” he said.
“These days England do not show any fear or choke in big games. It is just whether they have enough to beat an outstanding Indian side,” he said.
Vaughan said England bowlers will go after India’s in-form batsman Shikhar Dhawan.
“There is no doubt England will target the left-hander, Shikhar Dhawan, the batsman of the tournament. They will go short and straight at his right ear. He was out against Australia playing the hook shot,” he said.u00a0
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