Cricket: Schedule of Champions Trophy

There's a feast of cricket this Diwali. The ICC Champions Trophy, also known as the Mini Cricket World Cup takes place in India from the 7th of October to the 5th of November.

All matches would be Day/Night fixtures keeping in mind the holiday season in the third and last week, and to a lesser extent the October heat. India plays England in its first match on 15th October in Jaipur. The matches are going to be held at only four venues: Bombay, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Mohali.

Here's a schedule of ICC Champions Trophy from Oct 7 - Nov 5, 2006 in India.

Australia proved once again why they are the best One Day cricket team in the World, both on performance and as per ICC rankings, as they beat West Indies by 127 runs in the final of the DLF Cup in Malaysia.

Australia start as favourites for the Champions Trophy and also for the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. The only team that can beat Australia on paper seems to be South Africa.

One day matches in India are about scores of 275/300 plus on an average and this tournament is going to be no different. India's chances depend on its batting and its match versus Australia on the 29th of October in Mohali.

India, Australia, England are in one group and Pakistan, New Zealand, and South Africa are in the other.

Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh would play qualifying matches and the first two teams among these four would qualify to the next stage, with Qualifier 2 in India's group, and Qualifier 1 in Pakistan's group.

Each team plays the other once in the second stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The day and night final takes place on the 5th of November at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay.

Related Link: Follow the ICC Champions Trophy on Cricinfo.