5 instances when underdogs stunned the world in ICC tournaments

India v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy Final

#5 Pakistan – Champions Trophy, England in 2017

Usually, it takes a lot of time to rebuild a team when it’s placed at the bottom of the rankings table. But such a paradigm shift can only be expected by a team like Pakistan.

Sarfraz Ahmed led a young Pakistani team to glory, not unlike the way Imran Khan stormed into the finals of the Cricket World Cup in 1992. Before the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan were ranked No. 8 and had a strong chance of failing to qualify directly for the Cricket World Cup 2019.

In their opening match of the Champions Trophy, they comprehensively lost to India by 124 runs. Chasing India’s total of 319, Pakistan simply played like the 8th ranked team and their chase ended at 164 runs. All the top 4 Indian batsmen - Rohit, Dhawan, Kohli and Yuvraj - notched up fine half-centuries.

In Pakistan's second match, Hasan Ali and Imad Wasim bowled magnificently to dismiss South Africa for 219 runs. When rain interrupted the match, Pakistan had already scored 119 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, and by virtue of the Duckworth Lewis system, they were declared the winners by 19 runs.

In their last league match against Sri Lanka, Pakistani skipper Sarfraz Ahmad played a patient knock of 61 runs to guide his team in the run chase of 237 runs and win the match by 3 wickets.

After that there was no looking back. Pakistan made it to the semis when it was least expected, and were suddenly riding a wave of confidence.

In the semi-final, England, who were considered as favorites, only managed to score a paltry 211 runs. The English bowlers then had no answers to Pakistan’s fierce batting led by Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali, and the target was just chased in just 37.1 overs. Pakistan had made a strong statement going into the final against India.

In the final, India opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Fakhar Zaman scored his maiden ODI hundred in quick time and was aided by solid batting from Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Hafeez in the middle. The Indian bowlers were smashed to each and every corner of the stadium.

Pakistan dominated throughout their innings and set a mammoth score of 338 runs. In reply, India could only manage to score 158 runs and lost all their wickets in the 31st over.

For a while, India’s batting resistance was strongly held by Hardik Pandya in his quickfire knock of 76 from 43 balls. But once he got dismissed in a terrible run-out that involved Ravindra Jadeja at the non-striker’s end, it was literally all over for India.

Pakistan won the match by 180 runs and with that, became the 5th ranked ODI team. They no longer had to play any qualifying matches for making it to the World Cup 2019.

Later in the year, the ICC awarded Pakistan’s historic win with a first-of-its-kind award called "Fans' Moment of the Year".