Pandya says India ready to defend title

In its final warm-up match at The Oval on Wednesday, Pandya made an impressive unbeaten 80 from just 54 balls. Pandya insists the squad is now used to the conditions and is ready to thrive on the big stage. “In English conditions, it is very simple – you just need to take time when you are batting,” said the 23-year-old.

“You have to score runs but when the ball is moving about, it’s not always easy, so you need to take your time and choose your shots. The Bangladesh game gave us a lot of confidence and hopefully it can carry on for the start of the Champions Trophy. We all know that India v Pakistan is a big game but the preparation will be the same as it was for this match,” said Pandya.

“We have prepared. We have done our hard work and everything is covered. Pakistan have a quality line-up of batting and bowling as well though, so it will be a really, really good game.” Pandya admits he was impressed by what he saw from his teammates with the ball. 

“The bowling was amazing – we were bowling in the right areas and it was really amazing,” he added.