DELIVERING WORLD-CLASS EVENTS // ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2017
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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2017
No one would have bet on Pakistan winning the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Having just
OPPOSITE: Pakistan lifted the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 after defeating India 18 June.
The story of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 was the story of Pakistan’s indomitable cricket team and the unbreakable spirit that drives produced a turnaround to match their exploits at the 1992 World Cup, roaring back from a position of hopelessness to emerge victorious watched cricket match of all time.
To fully grasp the scale of Pakistan’s achievement, it is necessary to recall how low they had sunk in the days and months which temporarily shunted them down to ninth in the rankings. Had that defeat happened three days earlier, within the cut-off period for tournament qualifying, Pakistan wouldn’t even have been at the tournament.
Coming into the competition, Pakistan had lost 13 of their last 15 ODIs against the other teams appearing at ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Up until January, Azhar Ali had been the team’s captain, but after presiding over a 4-1 series loss against Australia, he was removed from the helm and dropped from the team, before being recalled for this tournament. Umar Akmal, one of Pakistan’s most talented batsmen, was recalled along with Ali, but was then sent home before
Pakistan’s preparations, in short, could barely have gone much worse, and initially it showed. India by a margin of 124 runs, after which their attack leader Wahab Riaz departed the tournament injured. What followed was little short of miraculous, as they won four straight
games, starting with a close-run, rain-affected culminating in the staggering demolition of India
For much of the tournament, India gave the impression of having assembled something approaching the complete ODI batting unit, three of whom made the ICC Team of the Tournament – Shikhar Dhawan, who sealed the Golden Bat for the second time running, Rohit Sharma, who notched up a century and two half- centuries, and Virat Kohli, dismissed just twice all
batsmen would chase down any score out there, but this didn’t account for the belief coursing through Pakistan’s own unit. At the heart of it despite only making his ODI debut in his side’s second game, ended up making the ICC’s Team of the Tournament. Carving an audacious 92-ball with Azhar Ali and Babar Azam helping to lay the platform and Mohammed Hafeez capping off proceedings with a 37-ball 57.
Even facing a stiff total – more than any other side had chased in ICC Champions Trophy history – India fancied their chances, having averaged 153 runs per wicket batting second in the soon in disarray, with Mohammad Amir taking the wickets of Sharma, Dhawan and Kohli inside They were eventually dismissed for 158; the victory margin of 180 runs was the largest
ICC Annual Report 2017-2018
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