5 of India’s biggest ICC Champions Trophy victories

India will walk out at Edgbaston on June 4 to start their ICC Champions Trophy defence and that too against arch-rivals Pakistan. The men in blue will have good memories from the previous edition which was also held in England back in 2013. India were unbeaten throughout the tournament and ultimately emerged victorious beating the hosts by a narrow margin of 5 runs in a rain-curtailed final match.

Moreover, most of the players from the previous edition like Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and others are going to play in this edition as well. And their experience in these conditions will prove to be vital in their title defence. Shikhar Dhawan was the Man of the Series in the previous edition and also the leading run-scorer in the tournament. He will look to continue the good work with the bat in this edition as well.

Moreover, India also hold the most number of Champions Trophy titles along with Australia (2). This will be the eighth edition of Champions Trophy since it started way back in 1998 and team India has given us numerous memorable victories to cherish in this time period. Let us now have a look at 5 of those biggest victories for India in Champions Trophy encounters:

#1 India vs South Africa, Nairobi 2000 (Won by 95 runs)

It was the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy, then known as the ICC Knock Out tournament, and India were up against a strong South African side. Winning the toss, the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly chose to bat first and he led the way with an unbeaten inning of 141 runs which was studded with 11 fours and 6 huge sixes.

Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh made useful contributions of 39 and 41 respectively to help India to a total of 295/6 in their 50 overs.

A strong South African batting line-up was expected to chase the total down. However, the Indian bowlers kept striking at regular intervals to bowl South Africa out for 200 runs inside 41 overs.

Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar picked up a couple of wickets each whereas Ganguly, Venkatesh Prasad and Yuvraj Singh chipped in with a wicket each. Thus, India won by a big margin of 95 runs and Sourav Ganguly was adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’ for his unbeaten knock of 141.

#2 India vs England, Colombo 2002 (Won by 8 wickets)

India destroyed England with the bat at Colombo

Winning the toss in the 11th match of the 2002 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, English skipper Nasser Hussain chose to bat first. The Indian bowlers did a good job to reduce England to 153/5 at one stage.

However, a beautiful lower order innings from Ian Blackwell helped England to a total of 269/7 in their 50 overs. Blackwell played a beautiful knock of 82 (91) which included 6 fours and 3 sixes. Nick Knight was the other batsman who scored a fifty.

England were relieved to post a competitive total on the board. However, they hardly had any idea about the storm that was about to come. Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly smashed centuries and put up an opening stand of 192 runs.

Sehwag was the aggressor in the partnership as he smashed 126 runs in 104 deliveries which consisted of 21 fours and a six. Sourav Ganguly remained unbeaten on 117 off 109 deliveries. He too accelerated in the latter half of his innings that included 12 fours and 3 sixes. India thus won the match by 8 wickets and 63 balls remaining. Virender Sehwag was adjudged the Man of the Match for his blitzkrieg knock.

#3 India vs Kenya, Southampton 2004 (Won by 98 runs)

Kenya were no match for the resurgent Indian side

A promising Kenyan side were taking on the mighty Indians at Southampton in the third match of the ICC Champions Trophy of the 2004 edition. Winning the toss, Kenyan skipper Steve Tikolo chose to field first hoping to restrict India to as low a total as possible. However, the Indian batsmen proved them wrong posting a big total of 290/4 in their 50 overs.

Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman led the way with steady knocks of 90 and 79 respectively. However, late cameos from Mohammad Kaif (49* off 29 balls) and Rahul Dravid (30* off 16 balls) provided India the impetus for a big total.

Kenya in return couldn’t withstand the strong Indian bowling attack and could only manage 192/7 in their 50 overs. Harbhajan Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/33 in his 10 overs. Irfan Pathan was also impressive with bowling figures of 2/11 in his six overs and Ajit Agarkar also chipped in with a wicket.

India won by 98 runs and Ganguly was adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’ for his knock of 90 runs.

#4 India vs West Indies, Johannesburg 2009 (Won by 7 wickets)

India bowlers rose to the occasion against West Indies

A clinical performance by India in the 12th match of the 2009 edition of Champions Trophy saw them beating the Caribbean side by 7 wickets and 107 balls to spare. Winning the toss, Indian skipper MS Dhoni chose to field first. His bowlers didn’t disappoint him as they bowled out West Indies for a paltry 129 runs inside 36 overs.

Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra picked up 3 wickets each. Harbhajan Singh also bowled well as he picked up a couple of wickets. Amit Mishra also chipped in with a wicket. However, the real surprise package was MS Dhoni who picked up his first and only ODI wicket.

Chasing the total, India got off to a troubled start having lost two early wickets for just 12 runs. However, Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli steadied things with a 92-run stand for the third wicket. Virat Kohli finished things off with an unbeaten 79 as India chased down the total with 7 wickets and 107 balls remaining. Kohli was also adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’ for his swashbuckling knock.

#5 India vs West Indies, The Oval 2013 (Won by 8 wickets)

Good work in the field meant India had to chase only 233, which they did with ease

The West Indies were off to a flier having lost just one wicket for 103 runs in the 20th over after India won the toss and chose to field first. However, the world turned upside down for them when Ravindra Jadeja came on to bowl. Jadeja bamboozled the Caribbean batsmen with his left-arm spin and claimed bowling figures of 5/36 in his 10 overs.

It was a quick-fire 56*(35) from Darren Sammy towards the end of the innings that took West Indies to a fighting total of 233/9 in their 50 overs.

However, the Indian batsmen once again showed their class as they chased down the total with 8 wickets remaining. Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 102 (107) and 51(54) respectively.

Rohit Sharma also scored a fifty in his 101 run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli played a breezy knock of 22 runs off 18 deliveries. India thus won the match by 8 wickets and Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’ for his classy bowling spell of 5/36.