ICC Champions Trophy, or the mini World Cup as it is projected by many, is underway in England. This tournament has been a talking point for its importance and schedule since its inception in 1998 but despite the decision of the tournament being scrapped in 2013, here we are, four years later standing on the cusp of a high scoring tournament on the flat decks of the Oval, Edgbaston and Cardiff.
15 matches will be played in a span of three weeks to decide a champion of the champions and this is the third time in history that England and Wales are staging the mini World Cup.
The competition first took place in 1998 in order to cash in on the humongous popularity of the 50-over format of the game. It was staged in Bangladesh and Kenya for the first two editions with an intention of providing cricketing action for the non-Test playing nations. For the first two editions, it was known as the ICC Knockout Trophy and then changed its name to the way we know it now.
The intentions soon changed and so did the format as after being staged every two years, it was decided the tournament would be arranged every four years and it paid dividends courtesy of the interest generated during India's win in the 2013 Champions Trophy.
While individual excellence - Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara and Chris Gayle et al. – has set the world alight in this competition in the past, the global event has not seen a consistent winner over the years. Australia has won it twice whereas India has won on one occasion and shared the trophy with Sri Lanka in the 2002 edition.
South Africa won the first ever tournament while New Zealand and West Indies have also won it once. On that note, let's take a closer look at the overall record of each team that has played in this elite competition and find out which is the most successful team of all time in the ICC Champions/Knockout Trophy.
Note: Stats are updated prior to the opening game of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy
| Team | Matches played | Won | Lost | Tied | No result | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 24 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 71.42 |
| Australia | 21 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 63.15 |
| New Zealand | 21 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 60 |
| Sri Lanka | 24 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 59.09 |
| West Indies | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 56.25 |
| South Africa | 21 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 54.76 |
| England | 21 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 52.38 |
| Pakistan | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 38.88 |
| Bangladesh | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Kenya | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| USA | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Zimbabwe | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
