Bilateral One-Day International cricket has a place in world cricket and, at its best both well-scheduled and evenly-contested, can be captivating. However, there is always something extra special about a multi-nation tournament. Indeed, for me, the multilateral environment brings out the very best of the format.

It’s a very different experience playing one team for a three or five match series and participating in a major ICC event. Some players relish the environment, rising to the occasion, as do certain teams, most obviously Australia in modern times.

And then there are teams with a history of underperformance in major tournaments, the reason for which might be hard to explain given the calibre and character of its players. South Africa is, unfortunately for them, the most obvious example of a team apparently uncomfortable in such environments, although happily for them they performed extremely well in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

This ICC Champions Trophy — the first since the 2013 edition in England and Wales, a tournament where India triumphed, justifying their world champion status after their ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 success, is particularly intriguing because there are so many realistic contenders.

There was a time, not so long ago, when one or two countries dominated the format, but in the past few years we have seen several teams develop tremendously and now we have four to five teams who are very evenly matched, all with realistic ambitions of winning major tournaments.

Bangladesh is real dark horse. It comes into the tournament with a lot of hope and promise. Under head coach Chandika Hathurasingha, it has made rapid progress in the past two years. He is fortunate to have a very hungry and talented bunch of players.

What you see in Bangladesh right now is a growing confidence and enhanced game-awareness. It is learning how to win matches and that makes it very dangerous opponents. I am not sure it will go all the way, but I am confident it will cause problems.

I think picking finalists is too tough, but my favourites for the semi-finals would be Australia, England, India and South Africa.