Icc champion trophy
From 1998 to now, the ICC Champions Trophy has been a rollercoaster ride.
We’ve seen seven new winners in eight editions, which shows that it truly is a game of champions.
But the tournament, which was being promoted as a mini-World Cup, had a different origin.
The 2017 series was supposed to be the last edition.
Yet the 2025 and 2029 tournaments have already been finalized.
The question arises: why is this series important?
What changes have occurred in this series over the years?
And after all, has this series given us fans some entertaining games?
From Australia’s dominance to the West Indies’ underdog play?.
The origin story:
In 1990, ICC President Jagmohan Dalmott first came up with the idea.
The ICC wants to increase interest in cricket among non-Test-playing nations. The solution was simple: when top cricket teams travel to those countries to play, the popularity of cricket will automatically increase among those people. However, there was another reason behind the Champions Trophy that perhaps many people don’t know. Cricket wasn’t always such a money-making machine as it is today. Neither T-20 cricket was a foregone conclusion, nor did cricket boards have so much money. In 1998, a significant amount of funds were needed to expand cricket to more countries. Funds would only come when people would watch in stadiums, and people mostly watched tournaments like the World Cup, which were held once every four years. Therefore, Jagmohan proposed starting the Champions Trophy to generate money during the four-year gap between the World Cup and the tournament, which was presented as a mini-World Cup. However, the ICC Committee didn’t like the idea, as there was already a multinational tournament in the ODI format, so people would be encouraged to participate. Why should we even consider it?
Even if we get it started, where is the space on the calendar?
And finally, even if space is found, how will it help cricket’s growth?
Jagmohan’s answer to this was ready.
First, only the top eight or nine Test-playing nations will play in this tournament, which will ensure people come to see big players like Sachin and Lara.
Second, this tournament will be played in a knockout format, lasting only 10 to 15 days.
Finally, this tournament will be hosted only in small nations, so they can generate revenue and make cricket popular there.
Finally, they were successful in convincing the Dal Mandi Committee.
Finally, this knockout tournament got the green light, and the cricket train started moving.
Mini WC Begins
Bangladesh reached this tournament, played in 1998.
This tournament was known as the ICC Knockout Trophy or
Wills International Cup.
Although Bangladesh was part of the ICC ODI World Cup, at that time, Test cricket was not played. Due to not being a playing nation, they were not part of this tournament. Whenever something new happens in life, some kind of challenge is bound to happen, which seemed to be happening with this tournament as well. Due to the flood situation in Dhaka, there were plans to shift the entire tournament to India. But somehow it worked out, and the Bangladeshi Board contributed 10% of its revenue to flood relief funds. Finally, on October 24, 1998, the first Champions Trophy match was played between New Zealand and Zimbabwe in Dhaka. A total of nine countries were eligible for this tournament, played in a knockout format, so two countries had to play a qualifier knockout to decide the final eight teams. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s absence from the tournament did not make any difference, as the stadium was full for every match. The audience was thrilled to see the world’s greatest player play. If you wanted to see, then the first mission of the tournament seemed to be accomplished.
Besides, $10 million was raised for the very first edition of the Champions Trophy, which was a huge amount in itself.
This funding helped the tournament reach such heights.
The final of this inaugural edition was played between South Africa and the West Indies, where Jacques Kallis’s all-round performance helped South Africa win the ICC Trophy. This is the only ICC trophy won by South Africa.
First failure
After 1998, the tournament was played in 2000. This time, the tournament was organized in Kenya, and among the non-Test playing nations, Bangladesh and host Kenya were included.
Now, it is obvious that only eight of the 11 teams would be able to play in the quarterfinals.
Therefore, based on the 1999 World Cup standings, the top five teams were directly qualified, including:
Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, and India, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe were included. The remaining six lowest-ranked teams played in the pre-quarterfinals. India defeated Kenya, Sri Lanka defeated West Indies, and England defeated Bangladesh. India dominated the tournament, as legends like Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh made their debuts in this tournament. Yuvraj, in particular, led India to victory against Australia in his second match, The final was New Zealand vs. India, and both teams were trying their best. One lion, the other a lion and a quarter. Batting first, openers gave a dream start and shared a partnership of 141 runs. Sachin scored 69, and Dada scored a century, scoring 117. Dada’s strike rate in that era was 90, which reflected India’s fairness mindset. When New Zealand When the innings came, we were 82 for Three wickets had fallen, and it seemed India would win the match easily. But then Chris Cairns came in at the other end. Wickets kept falling, but Chris played an important role in helping New Zealand win the final by scoring an unbeaten 102. New Zealand defeated India to win their first ICC tournament. Cricket-wise, it was a very interesting tournament, but this time the crowds in the stadiums weren’t as large. Although some people used to attend matches between India, Australia, and other big teams, the local population had no interest in this tournament. This led to the ICC having to reconsider its approach. This led to four major changes. Two: rebranding the tournament, the ICC renamed the tournament the Champions Trophy. Second, the ICC didn’t want to incur losses by hosting it again in non-Test-playing nations. Therefore, India was initially chosen as the host, but due to a lack of tax revenue, the Champions Trophy was moved to Sri Lanka. The third ICC tournament, organized in 2002, utilized technology in cricket for the first time.
And in this tournament, umpires were given the option of a third umpire to check fouls.
The fourth and biggest change was the replacement of the knockout format with a group stage.
This time, group stage matches were held, with 12 teams divided into four different groups, which was quite interesting throughout the
Sri Lanka seemed unstoppable in the tournament.
Murali Dare, taking 10 wickets in three matches, stunned everyone, while Sehwag’s bat was on fire for India.
With an average of 93 in five innings, he was the tournament’s highest scorer.
The final of the 2002 Trophy was played between India and Sri Lanka, but the cricket gods had other plans.
This final was played not once, but twice due to rain.
Sri Lanka batted both times. They scored 244 on the main day and 222 on the reserve day. However, due to rain during India’s batting on both days, the umpires had to stop play. The duck-ball rule was not used because, according to ICC rules, at least 25 overs should have been played. This rule was heavily criticized by former cricketers, but in the end, both Sri Lanka and India were declared winners of the tournament. This marked the first time we had joint winners in a tournament. After that, the 2004 Champions’ Trophy was crowned the 2004 Champions’ Champions Trophy winner, England. Twelve teams played 15 matches over 16 days, including 10 Test-playing nations, Kenya, and the United States, who were making their One Day International debuts. However, neither team advanced beyond the group stage. Anyway, England seemed to be the most dominant team in the tournament, and It seemed England would easily win the final against the West Indies, as both the highest run scorer and highest wicket taker were from England. That’s when we witnessed one of the most famous matches in Champions Trophy history. Although England only scored 217 runs in the final, Steve Harmes, Andrew Flintoff, and Paul Collingwood dismissed eight West Indies players for 147. England had already won their first global trophy, but Kotney Browne and Ian Broadshaw played the greatest innings of their lives, forging a partnership of 71. West Indies won an ICC tournament after a long time, the next after 2004.
The Australia Era
tournament, held in India, posed a different challenge off the field. Officials were seen battling the government over taxes, while players struggled on unprepared pitches. The pitches were so unprepared that the teams Playing became difficult, so much so that this tournament recorded five of the 10 lowest team totals in its history. At the end of the tournament, an English writer said that the tournament was interesting because it was unexpected. It was also evident that no Asian team qualified for the semi-finals, which was the first time in a major ICC tournament since the 1975 World Cup. The only team that was happiest in this tournament was Australia. Although the West Indies had the Universal Boss, who averaged 80, in the final, apart from Chanderpaul Gayle and Bravo, no one could score double digits. Chasing 138, Watson and Martin led Australia to victory by 8 wickets. This was the only trophy the Australians hadn’t won to date, and they made up for that by defeating the West Indies in the 2006 final. Now that India has hosted, why should neighboring countries lag behind? Therefore, the ICC gave Pakistan the opportunity to host the 2008 Champions Trophy.However, due to security reasons, the tournament was postponed by a year. Still, many teams did not want to go to Pakistan, so due to security concerns, the tournament was played in South Africa. The defending champions emerged as leaders from the start, while India was eliminated in the group stage due to its bad performance in many areas. In the final between New Zealand and Australia, New Zealand, batting first, set a target of 201 runs, which the Australians chased down in just 45 overs. The master of this chase was Shane Watson, who scored 105 runs at a strike rate of 80. Cameron White also made a strong contribution by scoring 62 runs. Due to this innings, the Kangaroos were successful in defending their title. from time The Champions Trophy was being played every two years, and under the guide of promoting T20, the ICC wanted to make some changes. Therefore, it was decided to play the Champions Trophy every four years instead of two. For this reason, the next Champions Trophy after 2009 was played in England in 2013. This time, only eight teams were included in the tournament, including England. The remaining seven teams were selected based on their ODI rankings. The 17-day tournament lasted for 17 days. India’s batting was dominant. Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli scored a lot of runs, and Jadeja’s spin helped us remain unbeatable in the group stages. India performed brilliantly in this edition, winning a thrilling contest in the final against England, which proved to be one of the closest Champions Trophy finals to date. The final, held in Birmingham, was reduced to 20 overs per side due to rain. Although we were unbeaten in the tournament, we struggled in this match. Apart from Virat, Shikhar Dhawan, and Jadeja, no other batsman reached double digits, which left us with a modest target of 129. During the chase, the Indian bowlers made a comeback, taking four wickets in nine overs. However, a 64-run partnership between Bhoparaand ian Morgan brought them back on track. Then came MS Dhoni’s unexpected move, handing the ball to Ishant Sharma, who dismissed Bhopara and Morgan with a concise delivery. England came under pressure in the final overs, and India won the match by five runs, ultimately clinching the Champions Trophy. Pakistan’s Redemption: Naturally, in any tournament, India’s good performance means more balls, ultimately more revenue. Therefore, the ICC India was announced with a prize money of ₹18 crore, which had never happened in the Champions Trophy until then. Due to the popularity of the T20 and ODI World Cups, the ICC wanted to replace the Champions Trophy with a Test Championship, creating a main tournament for each format. However, due to some delays, the Champions Trophy was approved for
2017 ind vs pak
the last time in 2017. The 2017 Champions Trophy was once again hosted by England, which was a very bad decision. Five of the 15 matches in the tournament were affected by rain and bad weather. This led to the elimination of the top two teams in the ICC ODI rankings, South Africa and Australia, in the group stages. Therefore, England, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India reached the semi-finals. This was the first time Bangladesh had reached the semi-finals of an ICC tournament. India and Pakistan won their respective semi-final matches to reach one of the most anticipated finals in the history of the Champions Trophy. Zaman and Mohammad Amir performed brilliantly. Because of this, Pakistan defeated India by 180 runs, the highest margin in any ODI tournament. Shikhar and Rohit had scored a lot of runs for India in the tournament, but in the final, the bowling of Aamir and Hasan Ali was .brilliant This is where the series was about to end.
The future
After the commercial success of the 2017 Champions Trophy, the ICC was once again forced to go back on its decision. While 2017 was supposed to be the last tournament, the ICC has already announced the 2025 and 2029 Champions Trophy. The 2025 Champions Trophy is about to begin in a few days, and this time Pakistan has been given the opportunity to host the champion trophy of 2025 India decide to not to go Pakistan so that ICC announced co host in the champion trophy Dubai is co host for this champion trophy Pakistan hosted internationally event by long time last time hosted in 1996 India played in Dubai all matches and remain unbeaten in the tournament India is strong ODI team on the other side Pakistan performance was very poor the final of the champion trophy 2025 played in Dubai batween newzeland and India ind won the champion trophy 2025