ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Reliving the previous India-Pakistan matches in the Champions Trophy

India Pakistan Edgbaston
India take on Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final

We are all set for a Super Sunday as India and Pakistan will clash for the title in 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. This will be the fifth time that India will be taking on Pakistan in the Champions Trophy and their 15th encounter against Pakistan in an ICC tournament. In the Champions Trophy, India and Pakistan are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head, so the final will see who takes the lead.

Pakistan scripted a terrific comeback after their opening defeat to India by stunning South Africa before beating Sri Lanka to qualify for the semi-finals.In the semis, Pakistan scripted another major upset by defeating hosts and favorites England by 8 wickets to qualify for their maiden Champions Trophy final.

India, on the other hand, have had a brilliant tournament so far with their only glitch coming against Sri Lanka in their second group game. The Lankans took full toll on an Indian side that perhaps underestimated their opponents – handing them their only defeat of the tournament so far. However, the Men in Blue rebounded well with a convincing win over South Africa to qualify for the semi-finals where they pummelled Bangladesh to qualify for their fourth Champions Trophy final.

With the final only hours away from now, let’s take a look at the previous four Champions Trophy encounters between India and Pakistan.

#1 Group stage, 2004 Champions Trophy

Shoaib Akhtar 2004 India Edgbaston
Pakistan defeated India in the first Indo-Pak encounter in the Champions Trophy

After defeating Kenya in their tournament openers, India and Pakistan squared off in the 2004 Champions Trophy with a place in the semi-finals at stake. While scores of 90 and 79 from Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman respectively had helped India register a 98-run win over Kenya, a five-wicket haul from Shahid Afridi helped Pakistan defeat the 2003 World Cup semi-finalists.

The first ever India-Pakistan match at the Champions Trophy was held at Edgbaston and Pakistan had the edge over India as they had won the most recent meeting between the two nations at the Videocon Cup in the Netherlands.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to field first. India were off to a terrible start as Mohammad Sami got the key wicket of Sourav Ganguly in the first over. Shortly after, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan dismissed Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman to reduce India to 28/3.

However, Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif stitched a partnership of 45 to prolong India’s batting. Shoaib Akhtar then broke the partnership by dismissing Kaif before Yuvraj Singh and Rohan Gavaskar were sent packing to the pavilion and India were reeling at 106/6.

Dravid was then joined in the crease by Ajit Agarkar and the duo batted steadily, dealing mainly in quick ones and twos while building a 79-ball partnership of 82 before the Indian vice-captain was dismissed for 67. Agarkar fell for 47 but had put India in a position to get 200 on the board. The Indian innings ended on 200 in 49.5 overs. The Pakistan bowling was brilliant with Shoaib Akhtar and Naved-ul-Hasan bagging four wickets apiece while Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Sami took a wicket each.

In reply, Pakistan began in a scenario similar to India’s as they were 27/3 with Irfan Pathan dismissing openers Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat in addition to Shoaib Malik. However, skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana brought Pakistan back into the game through their partnership of 75 before the former was dismissed by Agarkar.

Shahid Afridi 2004 India Edgbaston
Shahid Afridi’s late flurry was instrumental

Youhana kept on playing calmly while his partners on the other end were being sent back to the pavilion. Pakistan innings got the afterburners on with Shahid Afridi’s 12-ball cameo of 25 – helping them get to the doorsteps of the victory.

Youhana and Naved-ul-Hasan completed the job and took Pakistan to victory with four balls to spare to qualify for the semi-finals at the expense of their neighbours. Youhana was awarded the Man of the Match for his knock of 81 as Pakistan finally registered a win over India at an ICC tournament.

#2 Group Stage, 2009 Champions Trophy

Shoaib Malik 2009 India Centurion
The 206-run stand between Shoabi Malik and Mohammad Yousuf was one of the main reasons behind Pakistan’s win over India in the 2009 Champions Trophy
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India would open their 2009 Champions Trophy campaign against Pakistan at Centurion where they had defeated their neighbors at the 2003 World Cup thanks to Sachin Tendulkar’s sensational knock of 98. Meanwhile, Pakistan were only a win away from the semi-finals after beating West Indies in their tournament opener.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first and were off to a steady start thanks to their openers Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal. However, both of them were dismissed by Ashish Nehra and soon Younis Khan followed them back to the pavilion, reducing Pakistan to 65/3 with Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf at the crease.

The duo batted incredibly well and struck several boundaries en route to building a partnership of 206 during which, Malik reached his century. The partnership was broken by Nehra when he bowled over Yousuf when he was at 87.

While his partners were giving away their wickets, Malik took Pakistan across 300 courtesy of his 128 before being dismissed by Harbhajan Singh. Pakistan ended their innings at 302/9, giving India a target of 303 to chase down.

In reply, India lost Sachin Tendulkar early but Gautam Gambhir steadied the ship with Rahul Dravid offering him good assistance. Gambhir mainly targeted the midwicket boundary with both of his sixes coming in that region.as the man from Delhi raced towards his 50.

With Gambhir batting aggressively, India’s required run-rate went below six and with the reliable Rahul Dravid at the crease, a solid partnership was on the cards. However, the 67-run partnership was broken by none other than the Pakistan skipper Younis Khan when he made a direct hit from mid-off to run out Gautam Gambhir for 57.

Gautam Gambhir 2009 India Centurion
Gautam Gambhir’s wicket turned out to be vital

Following Gambhir’s dismissal, India’s scoring rate lessened as Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli batted without displaying any sort of aggression. India gradually began to feel the pressure when Kohli was dismissed for 16 before skipper MS Dhoni followed suit after scoring just 3, both being sent back to the hut by Shahid Afridi.

Suresh Raina’s steady batting gave India some hope as he along with Rahul Dravid (who reached his fifty in the meantime), stitched a partnership of 72. However, just as things were starting to look good for India, disaster struck as a quick and full delivery from Saeed Ajmal trapped Raina LBW and he was sent on his way back to the pavilion after scoring a 41-ball 46.

Raina’s wicket was the turning point of the match as India’s run-rate once again slowed down. Any hopes of India winning the game were dashed after Rahul Dravid was dismissed for 76. India were eventually dismissed for 248, thus handing Pakistan a 54-run victory as well as a place in the semi-finals.

Shoaib Malik was adjudged the Man of the Match for his sensational 128 as Pakistan registered their second consecutive win over India in the Champions Trophy.

#3 Group Stage, 2013 Champions Trophy

Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2013 Edgbaston
India finally ended their losing streak against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy

India and Pakistan would lock horns during their final group game at the 2013 Champions Trophy. While India had already confirmed their spot in the semi-finals with wins over South Africa and West Indies, Pakistan were set for an early flight home after having lost both their previous games, thus making their match against India a dead rubber.

The match was held again held at Edgbaston where India won the toss and opted to send Pakistan to bat first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got an early breakthrough for India by dismissing opener Nasir Jamshed in the third over. However, Jamshed’s co-opener Kamran Akmal along with the dependable Mohammad Hafeez lent balance to the innings as they took calculated risks to keep Pakistan in a good position.

During the 7th over of the Pakistan innings, it began to rain slightly which became heavier soon. Play went on for another four overs before being halted at the end of the 12th over. However, the rain stopped soon and play resumed shortly.

On the first ball after the interruption, Bhuvi got the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez who was looking dangerous on the field and Kamran Akmal soon followed him to the dressing room with Pakistan tottering at 56/3.

At this point, Asad Shafiq and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq began batting patiently to prevent any more wickets from falling which would intensify the pressure on the Pakistanis. However, rain once again came into play during the end of the 19th over and this time, by the time play resumed, the match had become a 40-over game.

Even though the rain wasn’t completely stopping, play persisted and Misbah and Asad put up a partnership of 54 for the fourth wicket before the Pakistan captain was clean bowled by Ravindra Jadeja. Shafiq soon followed him back to the pavilion after scoring 41 and his dismissal triggered a collapse as barring Umar Amin, none of the Pakistan batsmen could stay at the crease for long with irresponsible running causing them to lose two quick wickets.

Pakistan were eventually dismissed for 165 with Umar Amin remaining unbeaten on 27.

Shikhar Dhawan 2013 Edgbaston Pakistan
Shikhar Dhawan’s knock at the top of the order helped India reach the target with ease

According to the Duckworth-Lewis method, the revised target for India was 168 in 40 overs. India began well with the openers playing a balanced game. While Shikhar Dhawan was carving the deliveries for boundaries, Rohit Sharma played calmly in an attempt to not give away his wicket. During the ninth over, however, rain halted play for another 20 minutes and the revised target for India was now 157 from 36 overs.

Dhawan and Rohit added 58-run opening stand before the latter was dismissed in the 11th over. Shortly after, rain once again stopped play causing an hour’s break with the revised target now being 102 from 22 overs.

Dhawan, now joined by Virat Kohli continued to bat steadily before being dismissed two runs short of his fifty. Dinesh Karthik replaced Dhawan and along with Kohli, helped India to victory with 17 balls to spare.

India were through to the semi-finals with three wins out of three while Pakistan would end their tournament winless. The Man of the Match award went to Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his economical spell of 2/19.

#4 Group Stage, 2017 Champions Trophy

Rohit Sharma Shikhar Dhawan 2017 Edgbaston Pakistan
India made it 2-2 against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy

For only the second time in an ICC tournament and the first time in the Champions Trophy, India will be facing Pakistan more than once on Sunday after having squared off in their opening game where Pakistan won the toss and opted to field first.

India’s openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma began slowly but gradually began to increase the scoring rate. During the end of the 10th over, the rain came pouring down as play was halted for a while but no overs were lost.

Dhawan and Rohit were batting steadily, dealing in mainly ones and twos with Rohit Sharma bringing up his fifty with a fine six over midwicket. Dhawan soon brought up his fifty by smashing 14 runs in four deliveries off Wahab Riaz. While Rohit Sharma was showing occasional aggression, Dhawan began to bat a little aggressively. However, this was not a good move by the Sunrisers Hyderabad opener as he perished in an attempt to play the big shot after scoring 68, thus breaking the opening run stand of 136.

Virat Kohli joined Rohit Sharma on the crease and while the former was batting steadily, dealing in mainly in quick singles and twos, the latter began to slow down his scoring rate a bit. Once again, rain played spoilsport and this time, the match became a 48-overs a side match.

Rohit Sharma eventually got dismissed on 91 but his dismissal eventually resulted in India’s run-rate being elevated as Yuvraj Singh came in and began to smash one boundary after another. Soon, Kohli joined the party and the duo began to play aggressively as India’s run-rate was approaching six. Yuvraj reached his first Champions Trophy 50 since 2000 and got dismissed on 53 from just 32 deliveries.

Yuvraj Singh 2017 Edgbaston
Yuvraj Singh helped India end with a flurry

Hardik Pandya joined the Indian skipper on the crease and the duo gave a sublime finishing touch as India finished their innings at 319/3 in 48 overs with Kohli ending his innings on 81 from 68 balls.

In reply, Pakistan would have to chase down a target of 324 in 48 overs. In reply, Pakistan were 22/0 in 4.4 overs before rain returned again and by the time it stopped, Pakistan needed 289 to win off 41 overs. Pakistan’s opening duo of Ahmed Shehzad and Azhar Ali put up 47 before Shehzad was dismissed for 12. Soon, Babar Azam got dismissed and Azhar Ali was joined in the crease by Mohammad Hafeez.

Ali reached his fifty but was dismissed shortly after and Pakistan were 91/3. Barring Mohammad Hafeez’s 33, the remainder of the Pakistan batsmen could not stay for long and they were dismissed for 164, thus handing India a 124-run win. Out of a number of splendid individual Indian performances, it was Yuvraj Singh’s 32-ball 53 that received the Man of the Match award and India made it 2-2 against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.

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Edited by Staff Editor