Pandya says India ready to defend title

India completed its preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy in perfect style and Hardik Pandya claims the team is now raring to go for the tournament.

In its final warm-up match at The Oval on Wednesday, India compiled 324 for seven against Bangladesh, with Pandya notching an impressive unbeaten 80 from just 54 balls.

Its bowlers then went to work in the swinging conditions in London, firstly reducing the Tigers to 22 for six, before bowling its opponents out for 84 from 23.5 overs, to win by 240 runs.

India begins its ICC Champions Trophy campaign against rivals Pakistan on Sunday 4 June and Pandya insists the squad are now used to the conditions and are 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.

“And we got the right outcome with that approach against Bangladesh.

“This 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.

“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.”

In addition to Pandya’s unbeaten 80, opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan made a fluent 60, while Dinesh Karthik compiled 94 runs before retiring.

But India’s bowlers also impressed at The Oval, as openers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav took three wickets apiece to tear through the Bangladesh top order.

They were ably assisted by the rest of the bowling attack as Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin all took a Bangladesh wicket.

In addition to Pakistan, India also faces South Africa and Sri Lanka in Group B of the ICC Champions Trophy and Pandya admits he was impressed by what he saw from his teammates with ball in hand.

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

“We don’t see these conditions often in India, where the pitches are so quick and the ball is swinging, but we bowled really well.”