India, Feb. 19 -- Will Pakistan become the first team to win the Champions Trophy on home patch outright? Can they also become the first side to successfully defend the Champions Trophy title since Australia in 2009? Will their familiar foes from across the border make it two triumphs in three editions? Will South Africa translate their all-format consistency into a repeat of their heroics at the inaugural edition of this tournament, albeit in a different avatar, in 1998? Or will New Zealand, the 2000 champions but perennial bridesmaids in limited-overs tournaments thereafter, rise to the top?

In so many ways, this is a wide open tournament and yet, almost every one of the eight participating teams well knows that if the India that crush...