Sourav Ganguly: India will beat Pakistan again in Champions Trophy

BCCI finally declared the 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy tournament on Monday which will be commencing on 1st June. India will start their title defence against their fiercest rivals in the competition Pakistan and Sourav Ganguly seems confident of yet another Indian victory in a mega ICC event.

"India will beat Pakistan again in Champions Trophy," Ganguly told India Today.

"In the last 8 to 10 years there has been a massive difference in the quality between India and Pakistan and that has been one of the major reasons why India has continued to dominate Pakistan (in ICC events). I believe India will do it again in the Champions Trophy in Birmingham on the 4th of June", he added.

India has massively dominated Pakistan over the years in ICC events and leads the tally 12-2 in terms of wins over their neighbours. Ganguly noted that the Indian side always had the confidence to overcome their counterparts even in the most pressured conditions. 

"In the early part of the 90s and even in early 2000s, it is just that India played better than Pakistan in world tournaments because there was not much difference between the two sides as the Pakistan team was a fantastic unit then with the likes of Wasim (Akram), Waqar (Younis), Imzamam (ul-Haq), Saeed Anwar, Javed Miandad and Salim Malik. But 2005 onward the Pakistan team has not been the same as it used to be. They have lost to India on quality, they have lost to India on ability and somehow India has reacted to big match pressure much better than Pakistan.

The technique and quality of Indian players has been better than Pakistan. You see Pakistan there is rare brilliance but every time they have been under pressure they have tried to fight or hit their way out of pressure which has not worked for them. But every time you see India under pressure, they are a team which would seem have soaked in the pressure. They have batted and played difficult situations well and then have dominated during the course of a cricket match. But with Pakistan, every time they have been put under pressure by India with the ball or with the bat, they have tried to hit their way out and have not been successful", explained Ganguly.

Sourav Ganguly approved of the team selected by the BCCI in assistance with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Kohli has been endowed the huge responsibility of defending the title this year in England and Wales and all eyes are now set on how he leads the team on one of the biggest cricketing platforms.

"I think this is the best possible side at the moment and every player selects himself. Selectors did not have to pick or scratch or push one of the players to fill the 15 member squad. They will miss KL Rahul for sure and I think KL Rahul has been a wonderful player for India for the past two years but I think this is the best possible squad that is going to England and they have all the capacity and capability to defend their title", concluded Ganguly.