ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Five Indian players to watch out for

Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 we look at five Indians players to watch out for - Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni

Virat Kohli

His IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore may have performed awfully this season, but India captain Virat Kohli will put that behind him as he leads the defending champions. This will be the first time Kohli is captaining India at an ICC event, but he will have MS Dhoni as a valuable resource. India can take heart from Kohli’s ODI batting over the past year: 543 runs in eight innings at an average of 90.50 and strike-rate of 102.84, with two centuries. In England, Kohli averages 38.54 with one century and two fifties.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the most successful bowler in IPL 2017 with 26 wickets, which helped his franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad reach the play-offs. In nine ODIs in England, the right-arm swing bowler has taken 11 wickets at an average of 24.63 whole conceding just 4.10 runs per over. His skill in helpful English conditions could well prove to be a leading force for India, and as Bhuvneshwar hopes to improve upon an overall modest in 59 ODIs so too will the team expect him to take his IPL form to the next level.

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has been an international cricketer for 18 months, and now faces his biggest challenge: that of performing at this first ICC ODI tournament in conditions he has not encountered before. The allrounder from Baroda has featured in seven ODIs, taking nine wickets and scoring one half-century. Pandya was Man of the Match on ODI debut against New Zealand last October, and India will hope that his seam bowling comes in useful in England. Pandy, 23, enters his first Champions Trophy after helping Mumbai Indians win the IPL for the third time.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja was voted Man of the Match in the final of the 2013 Champions Trophy held in England after scoring an unbeaten 33 and then taking 2/24 as India won a low-scoring thriller to claim the title. Since then, he has emerged as a valuable allrounder in all formats, and heads back to England hoping to help India retain the trophy. In 12 ODIs in England, Jadeja has taken 23 wickets with his left-arm spin, apart from scoring 266 runs at a strike-rate of 114.65 with a highest score of 87.

MS Dhoni

The Champions Trophy, where India hope to defend the title they won under his captaincy four years ago, could be MS Dhoni’s international swansong. In 2016, he stated that he planned to continue playing international cricket until the 2019 World Cup. However, with Virat Kohli taking over as captain and India not playing a lot of limited-overs cricket over the next 12 months, there are theories that Dhoni may be winding down his career. Regardless of what the future holds, Dhoni remains the swiftest wicketkeeper in the game and a dangerous hitter down the order.