Down the years: India at the ICC Champions Trophy
May 26, 2017NEW DELHI: Since its inception in 1998, the ICC Champions Trophy has been a see-saw ride for the Indian cricket team. They have made the final thrice – winning in 2013, losing in 2000 and being declared joint winners with Sri Lanka in 2002 – and have contested some memorable matches along the way.
Here’s a look back at how past Indian teams have fared at the Champions Trophy.
Wills International Cup 1998
The inaugural edition of the tournament featured eight teams. India’s campaign opened with a fixture against Australia where Sachin Tendulkar continued his marvellous batting against the Aussies by single-handedly dominated with a match-winning 141 off 128 deliveries. India piled up 307 to which Australia fell short by 44 runs. Their next game against West Indies was the semi-final which the team lost thanks to some superb bowling by pacer Mervyn Dillon who sent Tendulkar and skipper Mohammad Azharuddin back cheaply. Brian Lara (60) along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (74) made a target of 242 look easy and crossed it in 47 overs with six wickets remaining.
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ICC Knockout 2000
The new millennium dawned upon Indian cricket under a new leader in Sourav Ganguly. The tournament was held in Kenya and marked emphatic debuts from Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh. Indian made short work of Kenya in the league game registering a comfortable eight-wicket win with Zaheer picking up three wickets in his debut outing. The quarter-final against then world champions Australia was a closely fought contest and had many unforgettable instances.
Tendulkar’s brutal assault on Glenn McGrath derailed the Aussie bowlers early on in the innings, which paved the way for Yuvraj’s memorable 84* in his debut innings. Zaheer then produced a picture-perfect yorker to dismiss skipper Steve Waugh which finally sealed the match in India’s favour. Next up, India beat defending champions South Africa by 95 run thanks largely to Ganguly’s unbeaten 141 and some excellent seam bowling from Zaheer. Going into their first final, India squared off against New Zealand who were coming off 65 and four-run victories against Zimbabwe and Pakistan respectively. Ganguly continued his magnificent run with 117 but it was the Kiwi allrounder Chris Cairns who came out as the real star with an outstanding 102*. Coming in at 109 for 4, Cairns Chris added 122 runs for the sixth wicket with Chris Harris and guided New Zealand home in a tight finish.
