Sanga to debut commentary at Champions trophy

Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara will be among a stellar line-up of commentators at the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England and Wales from June 1 to 18. Former Captains Ricky Ponting of Australia, Brendon Mccullum of New Zealand, and Graeme Smith of South Africa will be making their ICC TV debut along with Sangakkara. Other big names who will commentate through the tournament include Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Michael Slater, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Shaun Pollock, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ian Bishop, Ramiz Raja, Simon Doull and Athar Ali Khan. Sangakkara commenting on the event said: “The Champions Trophy is a special tournament which I loved playing in and I am honoured to have enjoyed success in. Now, as a commentator, I am very much looking forward to being part of the tournament and watching the best players in the world go head to head.

Most of the teams have a chance of lifting the Trophy so it promises to be a fascinating three weeks of action.”

Ricky Ponting said: “As a player, I always looked forward to the Champions Trophy. Winning it on two occasions was a big thrill. This year I’m really looking forward to it being staged in England and being a part of the commentary team.

“I’m expecting Australia and England to make the final with Pat Cummins and Jason Roy, two guys to stand out across the two weeks. I can’t wait!”

Brendon Mccullum said: “The ICC Champions Trophy is one event I look back on with many fond memories. Each team will be desperate to do well and put their stamp on the 50-over game.

“To now be in the commentary box for such a prestigious tournament is something I am really looking forward to. Working with names like Ponting, Ganguly and Smith is going to be great fun and hopefully we can give the viewers a unique insight on the action unfolding out in the middle.”

Graeme Smith said: “I was very excited when I was asked to commentate at this year’s Champions Trophy and didn’t hesitate to accept. The Champions Trophy is a great tournament where every team has a chance to do well. I am sure there will be a few surprises and many memorable performances, so there’s a lot to look forward to!”

ICC TV will produce live coverage of all 15 matches, supported by production partner Sunset+vine and equipment partner NEP Broadcast Solutions.

The eight-team tournament, which kicks off with host England playing Bangladesh at The Oval on June 1, will see a state-of-the-art coverage which will include 34 cameras at every game, including eight ultra-motion Hawk-eye cameras, front and reverse view stump cameras and a Spidercam. (ICC)