The ICC Champions Trophy is the newest edition to the 50 over tournament format. The popularity of this game has been on rising since then. Every tournament is a journey for every team that is participating.
For its growing popularity and role in shaping futures of weaker times, the Champions Trophy is also known as “The Mini World Cup”. At times, difficulties occurred in its progression, but fans always cheered up and resurrected the mega event.
Every sporting event has an interesting backdrop to its main story. The ICC Champions Trophy has its history and moment to remember. It began in 1998 as the newly formed ICC KnockOut Tournament which attained little popularity and no potential support.
In 2002, a new name was introduced to address the ICC Knockout Tournament. After becoming “the ICC Champions Trophy” in 2002, the year gap was changed from 2 to 4 years. Additionally, the ICC Champions Trophy was postponed from 2008 to 2009 due to security reasons. The 4-year cycle also became permanent from 2009.
Cricket is a sport full of passion and excitement. Through these moments, fans find a way to relate to their teams. Additionally, emotional moments are shared and celebrated. Also, the moments full of passion and excitement create some memorable moments.
The Champions Trophy final of 2013, in which India defeated England, occurred in a shortened 20 over match. A move that turned the tide suddenly became match-defining when Ishant Sharma dismissed Morgan after leaking runs.
The ten Test-playing nations were joined by Kenya, which had full One Day International (ODI) status, and the Netherlands, winners of the 2001 ICC Trophy. Each team played the other two teams in its pool, and the four teams that led in each pool proceeded to the Semi-Finals.
The teams were split into four groups in which every team played with group members. The Champions Trophy final between India and Sri Lanka was washed out twice, resulting in a shared win. The tournament's highest run-scorer was Virender Sehwag, and the highest wicket-taker was Muralidharan.
Success is measured by acceptance, interest and support. In the case of the Champions Trophy, success has come in all forms. The event has proven to be the link between two big events, it also has viewers all around the world. One of the biggest roles that the ICC Champions Trophy successfully played is in spreading out the message of cricket and promoting it to a wider audience.
This format has evolved through the years. In 2002 and 2004, the tournament had 12 qualified teams to play in a round-robin-style championship. These twelve teams were divided into groups chosen anonymously. To become the ultimate champions, a team had to play four matches.
From 2006, only 8 teams have been in the final tournament. In a round-robin format, the top two teams from each pool advance to the semi-finals. Thus, this format is a tidy one and a single loss could result in the elimination of a team.
2002 Champions Trophy was supposed to be held in India, but it was rescheduled to Sri Lanka. The tournament consisted of fifteen matches, including two semi-finals and a final. Unfortunately, the Final was rescinded and both finalists shared victory.
Winners - India and Sri Lanka
Most Runs - Virendra Sehwag
Most Wickets - Muralidharan
In September 2004, the ICC Champions Trophy was held in England. Twelve teams competed in 15 matches spread across three venues over the course of 16 days. The biggest surprise in 2004 was the entry of the United States in the top 12 teams who booked their place in the Champions Trophy after winning the 2004 ICC Six Nations Challenge.
Player of the series - Ramnaresh Sarwan
Most runs - Marcus Trescothick
Most wickets - Andrew Flintoff
One of the most unpredictable to date, the 2006 Champions Trophy was played from 7 October to 5 November 2006 among 12 teams from 4 groups. The championship produced five of the ten lowest team totals in tournament history, with totals of 80 (for West Indies) and 89 (for Pakistan) being the lowest recorded in matches involving the world's top eight One-day teams.
Player of the series - Chris Gayle
Most runs - Chris Gayle
Most wickets - Jerome Taylor
The top eight teams from ICC rankings were divided into two groups to compete for the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. Every team in its group played every other team once. Each match was given a certain number of points depending on different results.
Champions - Australia
Most runs - Ricky Ponting
Most wickets - Wayne Parnell
The Champions Trophy 2013 is a memorable one for Indian fans. India became the ultimate winner of the tournament by defeating England. Excitingly, the prize money was $2 million which was the biggest since the emergence of this event.
Player of the series - Shikhar Dhawan
Most runs - Shikhar Dhawan
Most wickets - Ravindra Jadeja
The 2017 Champions Trophy, held in England and Wales, was a bitter one for Indian fans. Pakistan won the event for the very first time, defeating India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval. In terms of runs, the margin of victory was the largest by any team in an ICC ODI tournament final.
Player of the series - Hasan Ali
Most runs - Shikhar Dhawan
Most wickets - Hasan Ali
Most runs have been scored by Chris Gayle who played 17 matches and scored 791 runs. Ex-New Zealand speedster Kyle Mills played 15 Champions Trophy matches and took 27 wickets.
Shane Watson is the only player to be awarded player of final twice in consecutive years of 2004 and 2006. Farveez Maharoof gave his iconic performance in 2006 taking 6/14 against West Indies. For the highest runs scored in an inning, there is a tie between Nathan Astle and Andy Flower.
It has been only 20 years since the tournament has found its feet in the international cricket world. Unlike other events, there were cases of mismanagement during earlier additions of the game. Since 2013, with the occurrence of some extraordinary moments, the event started to gain popularity.
The Champions Trophy has been an event of passion and true sportsmanship. As well as, there were some new rules added to the qualification round and tournament format.
