The 2017 edition of the Champions Trophy is about to star in a week’s time. There has been a lot of discussions about whether India will be able to defend their title won in 2013 or not. Over the years too, India has produced some splendid performances in the Champions Trophy and have performed relatively well in the tournament. Here are India’s top 5 performers in the Champions Trophy:
1. Sachin Tendulkar – 1998
In the first edition, CT was called as the ICC Knockout Trophy. India played Australia at Dhaka. Sachin Tendulkar came to bat when India was struggling at 8-2, scored a swashbuckling 141 off 128 and struck century partnerships with both Dravid and Ajay Jadeja to take India to 307-8. He also spread his magic with the ball as he took 4 wickets while bowling to hand India a one-sided win over one of the strongest cricketing teams of the time.
2. Sourav Ganguly – 2000
The Indian skipper at the time, Sourav Ganguly made the world sit up and take notice of his big-match ability. During a match against the South Africans in the semis of the 2000 edition, India was batting first and looking to hit a big score. Ganguly stepped up and played a phenomenal knock of unbeaten 141 off 142 balls to set SA a massive target of 296 which they could not manage to chase down and India went into the final.
3. Zaheer Khan – 2002
IN CT 2002, during a league match gainst Zimbabwe, India looked in commanding position after setting a target of 289. They would not have expected Andy Flower to come out and play unforgettable innings and it looked like he would take the match against them. However, Zaheer Khan was in the different mood as he popped up and finished the match with a spell of 4-45 and help his team to restrict the opposition at a close score of 274 and winning India the match.
4. Ravindra Jadeja – 2013
In India’s triumphant campaign of CT 2013, during a match against West Indies, India was looking to get some early invasions in the first innings. The batsmen were drifting and Dhoni introduced Jadeja and he change the course of the match. He struck in his second over itself before going on to take 4 more scalps and reducing the West Indies to a mediocre total 233 runs. His spell of 5-36 was his only fifer in ODI cricket but it was the beginning of a very fruitful career in the Indian squad for Jadeja.
5. Shikhar Dhawan – 2013
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan’s first ever ODI hundred was a special one. The southpaw scored a quickfire 114 off just 94 balls in CT 2013 as India set the ball rolling for a successful campaign. Dhawan went on to perform blazingly in the tournament and devastated bowlers en route to the trophy that India won for the first time under Dhoni’s captaincy.
