Champions Trophy 2017: 5 players you did not know who won the tournament

The 2017 Champions Trophy has entered the twilight of its group stage with Group A having already been decided yesterday and Group B entering its final leg of games. Even though rain has played a spoil-sport so far, there have been some quality games with quite a few surprises. England and Bangladesh are confirmed of a place in the semi-finals while New Zealand and Australia have been eliminated.

With Sri Lanka beating India, Group B has become wide open with all four teams with a win each, making the last leg of Group B matches virtual quarter-finals.

Over the years, the Champions Trophy has seen many of cricket’s finest stars play the tournament with many of them lifting the trophy. However, there have been a few players who won the Champions Trophy but due to their sporadic time with the national team, they are not very well known. Here are five players you did not know who played in the Champions Trophy.

#5 Derek Crookes in 1998

Derek Crookes played for South Africa from 1994-2000, appearing in 32 ODIs. Crookes took 25 wickets at an average of 40.43 and scored 296 runs with the bat, scoring a fifty against India at Sharjah in 1996.

Crookes was chosen in the squad for the 1998 ICC Knockout (later re-modeled into the Champions Trophy) and played all matches for South Africa, picking up only two wickets. He batted only once in the tournament during the final against West Indies at Dhaka.

Coming in at No.8, Crookes batted steadily and added 37 runs for the seventh wicket along with Hansie Cronje to take South Africa past the finish line.

#4 Chris Nevin in 2000

Nevin served as a backup keeper for New Zealand in the 2000 edition

Chris Nevin played for New Zealand during the early 2000s but not many people are familiar with the fact that he was a part of New Zealand’s ICC Knockout winning squad of 2000. He had made his ODI debut for the Kiwis in March that year and scored a career-best 74 against Australia at Auckland in only his second ODI.

Nevin was selected in the squad for the 2000 ICC Knockout as a backup wicket-keeper to Adam Parore. Nevin spent the entire tournament in the dressing room as Parore was used in every match of the tournament which New Zealand won by defeating India in the final at Nairobi.

#3 Glen Sulzerberger in 2000

Sulzberger was a last-minute addition to New Zealand’s squad

Right-arm spinner Sulzerberger made his debut for New Zealand in their tour of Zimbabwe which was only a few weeks before the Tournament. Sulzerberger played three matches, picking up a wicket in each match and conceding a total of 102 runs at an economy rate of 4.63.

Sulzerberger was initially not chosen in the squad for the tournament but an injury to Daniel Vettori prompted the selectors to recall him to the squad. However, Sulzerberger was only used as an extra as the Kiwis used Paul Wiseman as their only spinner throughout the tournament.

Following the tournament, Sulzerberger was never called up to the national team again.

#2 Dan Cullen in 2006

Cullen replaced Stuart Clark in Australia’s squad for the 2006 Champions Trophy

Thanks to impressive performances with South Australia, off-spinner Dan Cullen was called up to the Test team and played his first and only Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong where he ended the match with match figures of 1/54.

Cullen was also selected in the second-string Australian side to take on Bangladesh in the ODIs where he took two wickets in the third ODI at Fatullah.

Prior to the 2006 Champions Trophy, Stuart Clark picked up an injury and was ruled out of the tournament. Hence, Cullen was called up to the team as his replacement. However, Cullen played no part in the tournament as Australia played only two spinners in Brad Hogg and Andrew Symonds.

#1 Mike Rindel in 1998

Mike Rindel

All-rounder Mike Rindel made his international cricket debut in 1994 at the age of 31 and made sporadic appearances for South Africa during the next few years. Shortly before the start of the tournament, Gary Kirsten was injured and Rindel replaced him in the squad.

Rindel began the tournament well by scoring 41 in the quarter-final against England and taking a wicket. He had a disappointing outing in South Africa’s 92-run win over Sri Lanka in the semis as he scored only 8 and went for 13 in his solitary over.

However, Rindel’s best performance of the tournament came in the final against West Indies where he scored a steady 49 from 56 deliveries to give South Africa a good start in their run-chase of 246. The Proteas won the tournament and Rindel ended the tournament with 98 runs at an average of 32.66.