Ravichandran Ashwin names strongest teams in the Champions Trophy 2025

Former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels India and New Zealand are the strongest teams in the Champions Trophy 2025 Further he warned teams not to take Australia lightly despite some of their key players being ruled out following the injuries He said that Australia always brings their Agame into the ICC eventsThe Champions Trophy 2025 is set to kickstart on February 19 and Team India will play all their matches in Dubai following the hybrid modelIndia has the home advantage in Dubai and it almost like every other team is playing an away match against India This is a problem for the other teams for sure Ashwin said on his Youtube channelWith the longforgotten triseries making a return after a gap of many years Ravichandran Ashwin wondered if India should also have played in a triangular tournament instead of a bilateral series against England for better preparation before the Champions Trophy 2025Is this preparation with England enough for the Indian team ahead of CT in Dubai Should we have played a triseries too Pakistan New Zealand and South Africa are playing in Pakistan conditions which would help them in the CTIndia only played against England in India and moreover we dont have a lot of pleasant memories of playing T20s in Dubai The toss becomes really crucial in Dubai I think winning the toss becomes crucialAshwin said New Zealand despite the absence of the longserving pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee who have quit playing the 50over format will pose a challenge to IndiaAfter India New Zealand is one of the strongest teams in the Champions Trophy Since the likes of Southee and Boult are not playing there is a question mark about their bowling attack Who will accompany Matt Henry Will it be Will ORourke who has the potential to be a runaway champion of next generation Will it be Ben SearsAlso ReadChampions Trophy 2025 Format makes it more challenging than the 50over World Cup Temba BavumaThey have an experienced spin attack with Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips Mitchell Santner is the captain how is he planning to marshall his resources New Zealand is definitely a strong team They are one of the challengers to IndiaWhen it comes to Australia Ravichandran Ashwin stated that they bring their Agame in the ICC tournamentsSteven Smith as captain is a marriage made in heaven Smith is going to captain the team in the Champions Trophy Will Smith Head Maxwell and Labuschagne pull through the team to the semis I always believe that Australia is a champion team that always brings its Agame in marquee tournamentsConsidering Australia have a few issues in their bowling department a lot will depend on Smiths form and captaincySkipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were on Thursday ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to injuriesAustralia will miss out on two key players Mitchell Marsh who has sustained a back injury has already been ruled out of the tournament Allrounder Marcus Stoinis who announced that he will be retiring from ODI cricket has also removed himself from Australias Champions Trophy 2025 squadAshwin also expressed his excitement at the return of triseries tournaments after a gap of many yearsAnother moment of happiness is the return of the triseries Yeah there are bilateral series happening including the IndiaEngland one But it feels like England isnt playing serious enough cricketIn the recent series against Pakistan Englands template worked and the absolutely trampled them Brooke and Duckett scored heavilyI dont think the Champions Trophy in Pakistan will have such pitches It will be far from easy for bowlers and probably Englands firepower would be back to shooting blanks in the tournamentThe great offspinner who announced his retirement from international cricket during the BorderGavaskar Trophy in Australia added 90s kids would definitely understand this fascination for triseriesNow South Africa New Zealand and Pakistan have decided to reignite the interest in the triseries and organise a tournament The revival of triseries tournaments would breathe life into the ODI format that is gradually getting overlookedThe triseries might be a perfect curtain raiser for whats in store for these teams at the Champions Trophy He called South African captain Temba Bavuma one of the luckiest cricketersSouth Africa also have an allrounder conundrum Will they play Wiaan Mulder and can Rabada be the spearhead throughout the tournament Will Marco Jansen leave an impact in PakistanSouth Africa is in the group of death with England Afghanistan and Australia Will England play like how they did in India or transform into something else entirely in CT 2025South Africa is going to be led by Temba Bavuma who I think is one of the luckiest cricketers They have qualified for the WTC finals and have played quite good cricketWill Tristan Stubbs be benched Will Mulder and Jansen play together along with one of Keshav Maharaj and ShamsiWith PTI Inputs