It was captain MS Dhoni, who led India to the title in the 2013 Champions Trophy after outshining the hosts England by five runs. This time with the change of guard, Virat Kohli will defend the title with a spirited blue line-up.

Amid much political and diplomatic fuss over the India-Pakistan bilateral series, Team India will start their campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy facing arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.

The group-stage match has been predicted to be the most intense clash of the year. Although the neighbouring nations might play each other in the final as well, a victory over one another at early stage will determine their line of dominance in the mega event.

India last played an ODI against Pakistan on 15 February 2015 during a group stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup. The men-in-blue had defeated the green army by 76 runs.

Besides India and Pakistan, the winners of the inaugural edition of the Champions Trophy (1998) South Africa and 2002 joint-winners Sri Lanka will also battle in the same group.

The Asian cricketing powerhouses will try to corner South Africa in every possible aspect. However, they hold a strong chance of qualifying for the semis along with favourites India.

India are coming overseas after a long home season and have played just three ODI matches since the start of the calendar year 2017. Hosting England for a three-match ODI series, Kohli-led India clinched the series by 2-1.

Meanwhile, Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistan have played some exciting ODI matches since the start of the year. In January, they lost a five-match ODI series to Australia and later in April, they returned to winning ways with a three-match ODI series win over West Indies (2-1).

Placed eighth in the ODI ranking, Pakistan have nothing to lose but if they win it is going to make a huge difference.

South Africa, under the captaincy of AB de Villiers, will be the most influential team of the ICC event with their daunting bating line-up.

Since the beginning of 2017, the Proteas have played maximum ODI matches among all the teams in their group. South Africa marked their ODI dominance with a 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka in January-February, which was followed by 3-2 thumping of New Zealand in February-March.

South Africa’s last ODI exposure was against England in May, to whom they lost by 2-1.

Angelo Mathews-led Sri Lanka will be the underdogs in the Group B. However, they too have the potential to turn the table at any moment.

Having played eight ODIs since the start of the year, Sri Lanka has managed to win just one, that too against minnows Bangladesh. With experienced stalwarts like Lasith Malinga, Upul Tharang and Nuwan Kulasekara, Sri Lanka will look to regain good form at the Champions Trophy.