Champions Trophy: Can Team India be host-busters?

BIRMINGHAM: England will play hosts to India at Edgbaston in the final of the Champions Trophy this weekend.

That's how the run-up to the title clash is being billed, with India not just firm favorites to win the title but also the team that is likely to get more support than England.

Birmingham, one of England's most thickly inhabited cities with people of Indian origin, will host the final and it should only add to the charm of Team India's popularity.

But there's one glitch.

No amount of support from the diaspora here will be enough for MS Dhoni and company to get past the English pace attack comprising James Anderson,Stuart Broad and Steven Finn. They must counter it on their own.

If watching South Africa fall apart against this English bowling on Wednesday at the Oval was any indication, the Indians are not likely to have it easy at all. Worse, they'll be up against bowlers who know best how to exploit the home conditions.

The wicket for the final will most likely be a fresh one, considering the only match played here was last Saturday between India and Pakistan. And if it is any less dry than what has normally been on display in the tournament so far, expect Anderson and company to get lots of seam movement.

Anderson and Broad - who will lead England's attack in the Ashes next month - are two very different kind of bowlers who complement each other very well.

Presently considered one of the best in the business, Anderson is a natural athlete, whose striking action and late swing makes him extremely dangerous. Broad, on the other hand, is more of a workhorse who keeps the pressure on the batsmen.

Steven Finn, the 6'7" bowler has a high-arm action and delivers the ball from close to the stumps, which makes life very difficult for the batsmen.

Put the three of them together and they can maul any side. Just ask South Africa. MS Dhoni will have to think of a way to neutralize England's attack.

Barring openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, No. 3 bat Virat Kohil and Dinesh Karthik, the rest of the Indian middle-order hasn't batted at all in the tournament so far.

The only time skipper Dhoni got some time in the middle was in the first match against South Africa. There too he played more of a supporting role to Dhawan, who was on a rampage.

Make no mistake, England are a serious threat to India. If they manage to get rid of the openers early, they will expose an untested Indian middle-order. To be cautious will be Dhoni's call.

"We have to stick to our strengths and carry on doing the same thing we've done so far in the final too," says Indian pacer Ishant Sharma.MS Dhoni _ASSAULT_ mood