The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Champions Trophy – a tournament that was tucked away into obscurity since 2017 – is set to make its comeback as Pakistan hosts its first multination cricket event in 29 years.
The ninth edition of the elite one-day international (ODI) tournament will run from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Here’s a look at the brief history of the competition and the moments that mattered the most:
Host: Bangladesh
Teams: 9
Final: South Africa vs West Indies
Runner-up: South Africa – by four wickets
Player of the tournament: Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
The inaugural edition, conceived to help the game beyond cricket’s Test-playing nations, was held in Bangladesh as the Wills International Cup.
The ICC promised that the funds generated from the tournament would develop non-Test-playing nations but, since Bangladesh were yet to join the sport’s top tier, the hosts were not participants.
The main round began with quarterfinals but New Zealand and Zimbabwe faced off in a pre-knockouts game to determine the eighth team. As it turned out, that opening fixture – in a last-ball finish – ended up being the closest and most memorable game.
Pakistan and India were plotted to meet in the semifinals, but a star-studded Pakistani side – including Shahid Afridi, Aamer Sohail, Wasim Akram and Moin Khan – failed to chase a 290-run target against Brian Lara’s West Indies.
The West Indies went on to beat India, but lost to South Africa in the final. Jacques Kallis’s usual all-round brilliance brought the Proteas their first – and to date – only ICC Men’s title.
Host: Kenya
Teams: 11
Final: New Zealand vs India
Winner: New Zealand – by four wickets
Player of the tournament: None
The renamed ICC Knockout Trophy was hosted by Kenya, in keeping with the idea of expanding the sport into the ICC’s associate nations.
This time around, the hosts, alongside fellow debutants Bangladesh, were also included in the expanded lineup, but both failed to enter the main round.
Modern limited-over cricket greats Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Marlon Samuels made their ODI debuts during the tournament. India’s captain Sourav Ganguly amassed 348 runs, including two centuries, in four matches and led his team to the final against New Zealand. While Ganguly top-scored in the final with 117 runs, his effort was overshadowed by Chris Carins, whose unbeaten 108 secured New Zealand’s first ICC title.
Host: Sri Lanka
Teams: 12
Final: Sri Lanka vs India
Winners (joint): India and Sri Lanka (no result due to bad weather)
Player of the tournament: None
The third edition saw the addition of a further team – the Netherlands – and the introduction of a group-based system.
The top team from each of the four groups entered the semifinals, where India and South Africa were locked together until Virender Sehwag’s part-time off-spin undid Proteas stars Kallis, Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher.
India’s final against the hosts was a rain-affected affair, and after two attempts at completing the match, the decider was called off and the trophy was shared.
Host: England
Teams: 12
Final: England vs West Indies
Winner: West Indies – by two wickets
Player of the tournament: Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies)
Breaking away from the promise of hosting the Champions Trophy in developing cricket nations, the ICC took the tournament to England where baseball-mad United States entered the foray by qualifying by winning the ICC Six Nations Challenge.
The American challenge didn’t last long. In one of the shortest ODI games – by balls bowled – their fixture against Australia was over in fewer than 32 overs, having been skittled for 64 in 24 overs. The chase was completed inside eight overs, wrapping up the match in less than three hours.
It took the ICC six years to finally realise the importance of an India vs Pakistan fixture in a global event. The South Asian rivals were brought together in Group C and ensuring they played each other at least once. The match lived up to its hype and went down to the last over.
Shoaib Akhtar’s blistering fast bowling and Naved-ul-Hasan’s wily medium pace restricted India to 200, with Rahul “the Wall” Dravid managing to top score with 67. Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (41) and Mohammd Yousuf (81) guided Pakistan towards the target. Shahid Afridi’s 12-ball-25 sealed the win with four balls to spare.
England and West Indies overpowered their semifinal opponents – Australia and Pakistan, respectively – to set up the final at the Oval in London. Marcus Trescothick’s century was not enough to bring England their first ICC title as the West Indies won by two wickets.
Host: India
Teams: 10
Final: West Indies vs Australia
Winner: Australia – by eight wickets
Player of the tournament: Chris Gayle (West Indies)
India began their first home Champions Trophy tournament as one of the favourites but were quickly eliminated, losing two of their three group games. The other two South Asian teams – Pakistan and Sri Lanka – also failed to progress.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the ICC were seemingly at loggerheads in the run-up to the tournament, with then-BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi criticising the ICC’s marketing and scheduling of the tournament.
Pakistan and India were bewilderingly separated, once again, in the group stage.
The first semifinal saw regional rivals Australia and New Zealand face off in Mohali, where the reigning ODI world champions recorded a comfortable win to book a date against holders West Indies, who eased to a six-wicket win over South Africa.
Rain reduced the final to 35 overs, but failed to dampen the spirit of Ricky Ponting’s side. The mighty Australian team of the 1990s and 2000s finally claimed their first Champions Trophy title with an eight-wicket win.
Host: South Africa
Teams: 8
Final: Australia vs New Zealand
Winner: Australia – by six wickets
Player of the tournament: Ricky Ponting (Australia)
The sixth edition was scheduled for Pakistan in 2008 but was moved out of the country following the March 3 gun attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore. The hosting rights were granted to South Africa and the tournament was scheduled for 2009.
The number of teams was trimmed down to eight, based on the teams’ ODI rankings, and divided into two groups.
Group A’s marquee clash saw Pakistan beat India by 54 runs in front of a roaring crowd in Centurion. Shoaib Malik’s quickfire century, combined with the accurate spin bowling from Saeed Ajmal and Afridi gave Pakistan their second Champions Trophy win over India in as many encounters.
Australia marched to the finals with an unbeaten record and bagged consecutives trophies with a six-wicket defeat of New Zealand, thanks to opener Shane Watson’s unbeaten century.
Host: England and Wales
Teams: 8
Final: England vs India
Winner: India – by five runs
Player of the tournament: Shikhar Dhawan (India)
The Champions Trophy was meant to be done and dusted in 2009, but the ICC brought it back to life after the Test championship playoff scheduled for 2013 was called off due to broadcasting and sponsorship issues.
The competition was back and so was the India-Pakistan clash. The match failed to live up to expectations, though, as Pakistan’s meek batting effort saw them dismissed for 165 in 40 overs.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s economical pace and swing bowling, combined with the spin attack of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Aswhin, left Pakistan’s batters hapless. Emboldened India captain MS Dhoni even threw the ball to Virat Kohli for a couple of overs of his wrong-footed dibbly-dobbly bowling. India chased the target in fewer than 20 overs in front of a boisterous Edgbaston crowd.
The organisers were repaid for the hastily arranged edition of the tournament when hosts England and world champions India met in the final.
However, the British weather played spoilsport and the match was reduced to 20 overs. Kohli, at the peak of his limited-overs career, scored 43 runs off 34 balls as India posted 129.
Despite an early stutter, England seemed on course with 20 needed off the last 15 balls and six wickets in hand. India’s wily captain Dhoni brought back pacer Ishant Sharma, who had been expensive and erratic. Sharma took two wickets in two balls and was followed by another two-wicket over by Jadeja.
Dhoni’s moved paid off as India won the trophy for the second time and the iconic Indian skipper became the first captain to win all three ICC limited-overs tournaments – the T20 World Cup (2007), the 50-over World Cup (2011) and the Champions Trophy.
Host: England
Teams: Eight
Final: India vs Pakistan
Winner: Pakistan – by 180 runs
Player of the tournament: Hasan Ali (Pakistan)
After terming the 2013 edition the last one, the ICC said it was sure the 2017 was definitely going to be year cricket fans would bid farewell to the Champions Trophy. And so, England played host to the eight-team event yet again.
Opening the tournament with a big win over Bangladesh in Group A, England then beat Australia and New Zealand.
Group B’s biggest fixture saw India romp to a 124-run win over Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan, whose batting lineup collapsed to 164 all out in 41 overs. However, with a little help from rain in their win over South Africa, and their rivals India, who also beat South Africa, Pakistan qualified for the semifinals.
As is often the case with Pakistan in global events, the team made the most of their new lease in the tournament and crushed favourites England by eight wickets. India, too, romped to a huge win over Bangladesh to set up a dream final for the organisers, fans, broadcasters and sponsors alike.
Opener Fakhar Zaman, who made his Pakistan debut 11 days earlier, was dismissed off a Jasprit Bumrah no ball and went on to score 114 runs off 106 balls to help Pakistan set up a target of 339.
India’s run chase was rocked by opener Mohammad Amir, who dismissed Rohit Sharma and Kohli in his first two overs. Leg-spinner Shadab Khan and player of the tournament Hasan Ali added to the damage as India were dismissed for 158 in 30.3 overs. The 180-run win, Pakistan’s biggest in ODIs against India, brought the team in green their first Champions Trophy title.
