‘India is pack leader’

Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara said on Tuesday defending champion India was capable of retaining the Champions Trophy title as it was a better-balanced unit with “real firepower in its fast bowling”.

Australia is one of the strongest contenders. It have been playing some great ODI cricket of late and it is probably the best-balanced team in the competition. Its batsmen are also in-form and its bowling attack is potent

Bangladesh is the dark horse. It comes into the tournament with a lot of hope and promise. Under head coach Chandika Hathurasingha, it has made rapid progress in the past two years. He is fortunate to have a very hungry and talented bunch of players. It is learning how to win matches and that makes it very dangerous opponents

South Africa has a strong-looking team and will be desperate to throw-off the chokers tag once and for all. It will be thrilled to have AB de Villiers back and also Quinton de Kock, who brushed away some cobwebs with a powerful century last week. Their presence bolsters an already-strong batting lineup. The one disappointment for South Africa will be that Dale Steyn is not available. It has some quality bowlers, but Dale’s skill and experience in the conditions given two white balls would have been invaluable

Pakistan: Like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, appears to be making positive progress under Micky Arthur. He is developing the game-awareness of players and that makes strong and  talented players very dangerous. Pakistan’s strength is its bowling. The pace attack is very threatening and it also has great spin options. The big question will be whether its batting unit is able to consistently fire and be able to chase down big totals

New Zealand is a team which seems to thrive in tournaments. It is very professional and play a very clinical and basic style of cricket with a positive mind-set. That has really helped it punch above its weight over the years, carrying it deep into tournaments. Its bowling with Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Tim Southee is looking pretty potent and the batting is dangerous too with Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill

Sri Lanka is one of the teams which has a proud tradition of performing well in major tournaments. The team remains young and inexperienced, and this lowers expectations. The return of Lasith Malinga for the first time in an ODI since 2015 is going to be a huge boost. He looked like he was getting better and better as the IPL progressed. His partnership with Nuwan Kulasekara, who is skillful and experienced in English conditions, will provide confidence