Team India Specials

India in Champions Trophy

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Rajneesh Gupta
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India’s performances in the five Champions trophy tournaments played so far have not been all that outstanding. Apart from sharing the trophy with Sri Lanka when it was held in Sri Lanka in 2002, they have failed to go beyond the pool stages in the last two competitions held in England and India. However there have been some brilliant individual performances by the cricketers none better than Sachin Tendulkar’s allround performance of a century and four-wicket haul in the same match against Australia in the inaugural edition.  

1998 - Bangladesh
The first Mini World Cup was staged specifically for cricketing development. Dhaka was only the third choice for the competition after Disney World in Florida and Sharjah were touted initially. Although the host country was not allowed to take part the people reacted with enormous enthusiasm to the biggest sporting event the country had experienced.
 
It looked as if Sachin Tendulkar was all that India required to progress to the semi-finals. The Little Master had worked wonders with both bat and ball against Australia as he smashed 141 in 128 balls and also picked up four wickets into the bargain. It was little wonder that he was awarded man of the match for his exploits which saw Australia being trounced by 44 runs. The semi-final bout against West Indies erased all happy memories of the previous win when India was trounced by six wickets and crashed out of the tournament. Tendulkar failed to fire this time around and despite half-centuries by Sourav Ganguly and Robin Singh, the team was dismissed for 242 runs.
  • Beat Australia by 44 runs
India 307-8 (50) (SR Tendulkar 141, A Jadeja 71, MS Kasprowicz 3-71)
Australia 263 (48.1) (ME Waugh 74, SR Tendulkar 4-38, J Srinath 2-36,SB Joshi 2-57).
  • Lost to West Indies by 6 wickets (semi-final)
India 242-6 (50) (SC Ganguly 83, RR Singh 73*, M Dillon 3-38).
West Indies 245-4 (47) (S Chanderpaul 74, BC Lara 60*, SR Tendulkar 2-29).
 
2000 - Kenya
 
The second ICC knockout tournament staged in Kenya proved to be a tremendous success with the champion coming from cricket’s underdogs when New Zealand won it. 
 
Still nursing the wounds of the previous event, India trampled Kenya by eight wickets. Skipper Ganguly and Rahul Dravid scored half-centuries in reply to Kenya's 208. The quarter-finals saw a repeat of the 1998 performance when India once again defeated Australia. Man of the match Yuvraj Singh smashed 84 in 80 balls with 12 boundaries to build up India score to 265. In response Australia were all out for 245.
 
In the semi-finals against South Africa, the Proteas were bundled out for 200 runs giving the Indians a lead of 95 runs. Ganguly fired on all cylinders and scored an unbeaten 142-ball 141 complete with 11 fours and six sixes. This run of good form continued into the finals against New Zealand where he scored a valiant 117 ably supported by Tendulkar with 69. However, the Kiwis, powered by an unbeaten 102 by Chris Cairns, edged India out in the finals by four wickets to claim the title.
 
Despite losing in the final the tournament will be remembered for the batting of Sourav Ganguly, who made 348 runs in all, including centuries in the semi-final against South Africa and final against New Zealand.
  • Beat Kenya by 8 wickets
Kenya 208-9 (50) (RD Shah 60, MO Odumbe 51,Zaheer Khan 3-38).
India 209-2 (42.3) (R Dravid 68*,SC Ganguly 66, MO Odumbe 1-18). 
  • Beat Australia by 20 runs (D/L)
India 265-9 (50) ( Yuvraj Singh 84, S Lee 2-31).
Australia 245 (46.4) (RT Ponting 46, Zaheer Khan 2-40).
  •  Beat South Africa by 95 runs (semi-final)
India 295-6 (50) (SC Ganguly 141*,R Dravid 58,AA Donald 2-34).
South Africa 200 (41) (MV Boucher 60, Zaheer Khan 2-27, A Kumble 2-28,SR Tendulkar 2-32).
  • Lost to New Zealand by 4 wickets (final)
India 264-6 (50) (SC Ganguly 117,SR Tendulkar 69,SB Styris 2-53)
New Zealand 265-6 (49.4) (CL Cairns 102*,CZ Harris 46,BKV Prasad 3-27,A Kumble 2-55).
 
2002 - Sri Lanka
 
The third ICC Champions trophy left much to be desired held only five months before the 2003 World Cup in South Africa the slow pitches of Sri Lanka gave hardly any form guide to the conditions to be expected in Africa. Technology was used for the first time to assist umpires and Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik became the victim of an lbw decision referred to the third umpire.
 
India was forced to share the trophy with their neighbours Sri Lanka after rain played the role of spoilsport in the final. Zaheer Khan took 3-44 on the first day and spinner Harbhajan Singh took 3-27 on the second day of the final. The side, after defeating South Africa in a closely fought semi-final was pitched to be the favorites to win the event. Virender Sehwag was named man of the match for his gusty half century with the bat and three-wicket haul with the ball in the semis. The team had earlier defeated both England and Zimbabwe in the pool stage to progress to the semis.
  • Beat Zimbabwe by 14 runs
India 288-6 (50) (M Kaif 111*,R Dravid 71,DT Hondo 4-62).
Zimbabwe 274-8 (50) (A Flower 145,Zaheer Khan 4-45,SR Tendulkar 2-41).
  • Beat England by 8 wickets
England 269-7 (50) (ID Blackwell 82, NV Knight 50,A Nehra 2-49,A Kumble 2-58).
India 271-2 (39.3) (V Sehwag 126,SC Ganguly 117*,ID Blackwell 1-46).
  • Beat South Africa by 10 runs (semi-final)
India 261-9 (50) (Yuvraj Singh 62,V Sehwag 59,SM Pollock 3-43).
South Africa 251-6 (50) (HH Gibbs 116*,JH Kallis 97,V Sehwag 3-25,Harbhajan Singh 2-37).
  • No result v Sri Lanka (final)
Sri Lanka 244-5 (50) (ST Jayasuriya 74, KC Sangakkara 54, Harbhajan Singh 3-27).
India 14-0 (2) (rain).
  • No result v Sri Lanka (final replay)
Sri Lanka 222-7 (50) (DPMD Jayawardene 77, RP Arnold 56*,Zaheer Khan 3-44)
India 38-1 (8.4) (rain)
 
2004 - England
 
The fourth Champions trophy was a tournament full of insipid and forgetful moments ended with one of most memorable finals in recent years when West Indies scripted a soul-stirring fight back to beat England by two wickets in the final at the Oval. 
Previous winners India failed to progress beyond the pool stage after losing against Pakistan by three wickets. The side, which saw a top order batting collapse and left to defend a total of only 200, had to rely on Irfan Pathan (3-34) to save the match but in vain. They had, however, beaten Kenya by 98 runs earlier with an excellent batting display by skipper Ganguly (90 not out).
  • Beat Kenya by 98 runs
India 290-4 (50) (SC Ganguly 90,VVS Laxman 79,TM Odoyo 2-43).
Kenya 192-7 (50) (MA Ouma 49, BJ Patel 40*,Harbhajan Singh 3-33, IK Pathan 2-11).
  • Lost to Pakistan by 3 wickets
India 200 (49.5) (R Dravid 67, Naved-ul-Hasan 4-25, Shoaib Akhtar 4-36).
Pakistan 201-7 (49.2) (Mohammad Yousuf 81*,Inzamam-ul-Haq (41,IK Pathan 3-34).
 
2006 - India
 
Held five months before the 2007 World Cup, the fifth Champions trophy became as infamous as the previous ones. Australia eventually captured the one piece of silverware that had eluded them. Only the top six nations of the ICC one-day rankings automatically qualified leaving the other four countries to fight it out for the last two places.
 
The hosts had a dismal performance this year too as they lost two matches in the group stages and with it the chances to qualify to the semi-finals. A six-wicket loss to Australia despite half-centuries by both Virendrer Sehwag and Rahul Dravid was followed by a three-wicket loss to West Indies even though keeper MS Dhoni (51) and Rahul Dravid (49) contributed significantly. Their only victory in the tournament was against England when they won by four wickets after limiting England to 125 after three-wicket hauls by both Munaf Patel and Ramesh Powar.
  • Beat England by 4 wickets
England 125 (37) (PD Collingwood 38, MM Patel 3-18,RR Powar 3-24)
India 126-6 (29.3) (SR Tendulkar 35, Yuvraj Singh 27*, JWM Dalrymple 2-5,SJ Harmison 2-34).
  • Lost to West Indies by 3 wickets
India 223-9 (50) (MS Dhoni 51,R Dravid 49,IDR Bradshaw 3-30,JE Taylor 2-33).
West Indies 224-7 (49.4) (RR Sarwan 53, S Chanderpaul 51, RS Morton 45,AB Agarkar 2-52).
 
 
India in Champions Trophy

Highest total: 307-8 (50) v Australia Dhaka  1998
 
Lowest total: 200 (49.5) v Pakistan Birmingham 2004
 
Highest innings: 141* SC Ganguly  v South Africa Nairobi Gym 2000
                  141 SR Tendulkar  v Australia  Dhaka  1998
 
Centuries:  6 (SC Ganguly-3)
 
Leading run-scorer: SC Ganguly- 665 runs in 13 matches @ 73.89

Best bowling: 4-38 SR Tendulkar  v Australia  Dhaka  1998
 
Leading wicket-taker: Zaheer Khan – 15 wickets in 9 matches @ 24.53

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