Tag Cricket Article

Money is not everything... it is the only thing.

And that's the reason why with every single cricket tournament, nearly everything that a cricket lover needs to know - changes. New Match time tables, opposition, new venues and new timing for the start of matches to mention a few.

Being a crazy cricket lover turned a cricket blogger, I feel like I have got the answers for nearly everything related to my obsession and would love to help my fellow cricket lovers to find their answers.... the only problem is I don't know what's you question??

So what I have done here is I have compiled a set of information's related to the ICC Champions trophy which will be played in India from 7th of October to 5th of November. I am hoping that they meet your needs and help you watch the thrilling matches of this cricket tournament, but if I have missed what you are looking for - leave your question for me here and I'll send you the answers within very very short time.

Now lets start the questionnaire - - -

1. A History of ICC Champions Trophy :

If you go by the number of matches played by teams in all four Champions trophies so far, Indian team has been the best team. They have played a total of 13 matches in this tournament which was called as ICC Knock-out tournament initially and have reached the finals twice and Semi-finals once. Winning a total of 8 matches. But the fact remains that they haven't won this tournament ever. Indian team were the joint winners in 2002 in Sri Lanka when rain god denied them a victory for 2 days back to back..

I can go on telling you the history of this stiff tournament and eat up all the time you have. So let me just redirect you to " A history of ICC Champions trophy" and get on with other information's..

2. Two Combination matches after the Champions trophy tournament :

Not very often that nearly all the special cricketers in International arena come together at one place at the same time. It happens only when ICC World Cup is played, or now when ICC Champions trophy is played because all the best cricketing teams are involved. Hence, its a very good opportunity for organisers to arrange a cricket match by making two teams involving all the best cricketers.

It might be between two International XI's but these two combination matches will be played at Jaipur, right after the ICC Champions trophy finals on 5th of November. So just watch out for it..!!

3. Schedule of Champions Trophy 2006 in India :

I always depend on my mind to remember when is India's matches in any cricket series or tournament, but this time - Its about ICC Champions trophy where I am sure many more matches will be worth a watch than just India's matches. Hence, it becomes imperative that you keep looking at the schedule or time table of ICC Champions trophy 2006 day after day and decide which match you want to watch.

For example, I am sure Pakistan vs South Africa on 27th of October or Pakistan vs Sri Lanka on 17th of October will be as much interesting for a cricket lover than a India vs England ODI on 15th..... So here's the complete old fashioned Schedule of ICC Champions trophy 2006 in India.

4. Live telecast of ICC Champions Trophy 2006 :

The most important thing with every new cricket tournament is the telecast rights. Sports Channel's which will live telecast the tournament is always changing - specially here in my country India and that makes life tough for a normal person who just want to enjoy a game of cricket. So let me just remind you that ICC champions trophy will be live on Set Max (The Sony Entertainment Network Channel) here in India... whereas some of the matches will also be shown by Doordarshan or DD1 or DD National as you may call it and a few on SAB TV. Here's more.

I was knowing that this "Live telecast" problem will not only be with my fellow Indians, but with nearly every other cricket playing nation like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Caribbean islands and also to non-cricket playing countries where cricket lovers live such as USA, Canada, Singapore/Malaysia, Middle east and Hong Kong. And thus I have worked few days more to find your cricket channel for Champions trophy as well but the problem is I am not knowing where are you...

So I ask you to visit my cricket forum, ask your question and I'll send you your channel within minutes.

5. Tickets for champions trophy tournament in India :

Although it might be late of you to start looking for tickets to cricket matches in champions trophy as the match tickets are already being sold for a month now, but I am sure if you are not looking for tickets for India vs Australia match on 29th of October and few other India's matches, you still might find a seat for you. Read this.

5. The Points table :

Now this may becomes very interesting as the Champions trophy goes on. Hence I have made a separate article for it and have called it - "ICC champions Trophy - the points table turning around"

The teams and their squad :

To tell you frankly, I am not the person who gives too much of importance to numbers. I have been watching cricket for over 15 years now and I've a gut feeling about each and every cricket playing nation that we have in International arena. And I prefer to elaborate the specialities and limitations of a cricket team than their past winning records..

So select the article on team you are looking, which of course will also include their squad for this ICC champions trophy 2006 in India.
Pakistan - the mysterious team of cricket arena.

6. The Grounds :

Four venues are chosen for this ICC Champions trophy in India and to tell you the truth - they aren't the best that we have. But they all have enough of qualities to host cricket matches of this bigger magnitude and I am sure they will meet you expectation. Here's more on the four Indian venues for champions trophy 2006 -

A. Sawai Mansingh Stadium in "Pink city" Jaipur .
B. Mohali - one of the best Indian cricket stadiums.
C. Motera - the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad .
D. Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai - the CCI.


7. Timing of Matches :

Since all the ODI matches in this Champions trophy 2006 are to be played as Day/Night, the match timing is 14.20 hrs India time. I expect you to convert this IST into the time zone that you are in to find out the exact timing of the start of matches from your perspective.

8. The Squads :

It's always worth to know about which team is having which player in a tournament where your team can play anyone of them in just a matter of days..!!

It was tough for me to write a single article on all the 14*10 players who will be participating in this 36 day tournament called Champions trophy in India. So what I have done is broken them into three articles - Group A teams (India, Australia and England), Group B teams (Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand) and the Qualifiers (West Indies and Sri Lanka).


9. The Weather :

Monsoon has nearly come to an end here in my country. In fact, two of our most celebrated festivals - Diwali and Eid are just around the corner, which suggests that we can have a really pleasant weather to play cricket at all the four venues - Jaipur, Mohali, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Though Mumbai might still be little humid but to tell you frankly, October and November are the best two months to play cricket there because that's the start of winter season here in India, and rest of the time - Mumbai is burning with heat..!!

10. About the trophy that teams will be fighting for :

The Champions Trophy has its origins in London, England – where it was designed and manufactured by Crown Jewellers, Asprey, who have been manufacturing other ICC trophies for events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC Test Championship Mace and the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup over the years.

The ICC Champions Trophy stands 18 inches tall (45.72 centimeters) and is 5.5 inches (13.97 centimeters) at its widest point. It weighs a modest 8 kilograms or just under 18 pounds.

The stunning trophy is crafted with solid silver and consists of a silver gilt cricket ball engraved with a map of the world. The ball is mounted on a trefoil of sterling silver panels that taper down to a lacquered wooden plinth with the front panel engraved with the tournament title and logo.

Though its commercial value is approximately US $20,000, to the cricketing world its priceless!

The trophy made its first appearance in 2002 when the tournament's name was changed from the ICC Knock-out to the ICC Champions Trophy

11. What after this tournament :

This is strictly for my fellow "Team India followers" as it's very tough for me to discuss which country goes where after this ICC champions trophy. But our Indian team is having probably a tougher assignment after this as they travel to South Africa for a tour of 3 test matches, their first every twenty20 International and then a series of 5 ODI's against South Africa.

Everybody talks about the Upcoming World Cup but I personally feel that South Africa has been a place where our team have always struggled and they need to better their performance - specially batting on South African pitches to show that they are in contest for the World Cup in West Indies.

Here's the schedule of India's tour of South Africa.