ON Sunday, the final of the 9th edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will take place between New Zealand and India.
Ahead of the match, let’s wind-back, and take a look at every previous tournament, in the competition’s history.
1998 | Hosts – Bangladesh 🇧🇩 | Winners – South Africa 🇿🇦
Inaugurated in 1998, the reason the tournament was formed was to raise funds for the development of the game in non-test playing countries.
Held in ICC associate member nation Bangladesh, the aim was to increase the popularity of the sport in the country and then use the funds collected for the development of their cricket.
The tournament was a straight knock out style, with South Africa overcoming West Indies in the final.
You might be thinking, how did hosts Bangladesh do? Well, they stood no chance, seeing as they weren’t even in the tournament, despite hosting it, due to the fact they were not a test playing nation.
2000 | Hosts – Kenya 🇰🇪 | Winners – New Zealand 🇳🇿
For the same reasons Bangladesh hosted the maiden tournament, this one was held in Kenya to also help increase the popularity of cricket in Kenya.
At least this time the hosts actually participated, not in the tournament itself, but in the ‘pre-quarter finals,’ where they lost to India.
Led by one of the greatest batters of all time, Rahul Dravid, India made it all the way to the final, but lost out to New Zealand, who won by 4 wickets with two balls remaining, fine margins.
The tournament was the last to be held as straight knock outs and it was the first ICC event won by the black caps and still their only limited overs tournament till date.
Maybe that will change on Sunday?
2002 | Hosts – Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 | Winners – India 🇮🇳 & Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
Straight away, you must be thinking, how can two teams win a tournament?
Well, the final between India and Sri Lanka, was played on two different days, Sri Lanka put up 244 runs on the 29th of September, whilst India responded scoring 14 runs before the match was abandoned due to heavy rain, finishing in a no result.
On the reserve day, the 30th of September, Sri Lanka batted first again, only putting up 222 runs this time, before India started their innings with 38 runs before the match was once again abandoned due to rain without result.
Without any more reserve days, India and Sri Lanka were declared as joint winners, with the ICC heavily criticised following the decision.
It was the first time the tournament started with a group stage, followed by a knock-out, so that makes it a historical tournament for many reasons.
2004 | Hosts – England 🏴 | Winners – West Indies 🏝️
Mentioned for the first time, England hosted the 2004 edition and even made it to the final, only to lose out to West Indies by two wickets in front of a sell-out crowd at the Oval.
Perhaps more impressively, the United States qualified for the tournament for the first time, after winning the 2004 ICC Six Nations Challenge, but they endured a rather tough time, losing by 210 runs to New Zealand in their opening game.
They then followed this up, by scoring an impressive 65 runs against Australia, who managed to chase it down in just 7.5 overs, for context, they would have scored 421 runs if they had kept that up, and this is 15 years before Bazball was invented.
England did manage to avenge the United States, beating Australia in the semi-finals, but it wasn’t to be for them, despite Marcus Trescothick scoring an impressive century in a low scoring final.
2006 | Hosts – India 🇮🇳 | Winners – Australia 🇦🇺
India hosted the 5th edition of the tournament after their government agreed that tournament revenues would be free from tax, I wish I could do the same.
The tournament was labelled as one of the most unpredictable to date, as no Asian side qualified for the semi-finals, for the first time since the 1975 World Cup.
Despite defeating Australia in the group stages, West Indies would go on to lose the final to them, after being bowled out for 138, in another rain affected finale.
Although it was reduced overs, the match was this time concluded, and the Aussies won their first ever Champions Trophy, they clearly learnt a thing or two from their group stage match against West Indies.
2009 | Hosts – South Africa 🇿🇦 | Winners – Australia 🇦🇺
Originally the tournament was supposed to be held in Pakistan in 2008, but due to security concerns, it was delayed and eventually moved to South Africa in 2009.
This tournament was reduced to eight teams (previously 10) and Australia retained their title after defeating their neighbours, New Zealand in the final.
2013 | Hosts – England 🏴 & Wales 🏴 | Winners – India 🇮🇳
Once again England suffered heartbreak in the final, in front of a home crowd, as India stormed to victory in yet another rain affected final, good old English weather.
This was hardly a 50 over final as due to the weather, it was reduced to 20 overs, and even though India only put up 129 runs, England still failed to chase it down.
MS Dhoni made history, becoming the first captain to win the T20 World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the Champions Trophy, an impressive achievement from one of the best players in the history of the sport.
The tournament was originally due to be the final ICC Champions Trophy, as it was meant to be replaced by the ICC World Test Champions Trophy in 2017, however this decision was rescinded.
2017 | Hosts – England 🏴 & Wales 🏴 | Winners – Pakistan 🇵🇰
After a four-year absence, England and Wales, returned as hosts of the eighth edition of the tournament.
Pakistan won their first ever tournament, defeating India in the final by 180 runs, which was the largest victory by any team in the final of an ICC ODI tournament, in terms of runs.
It’s also the first time England have hosted the tournament and not reached the final.
Just before the tournament in 2016, the ICC confirmed that the Champions Trophy would be scrapped after this tournament, keeping in line with the ICC’s goal of having one tournament for each three formats of international cricket.
However, come November 2021, the ICC announced that the tournament would return in 2025, it seems as though they are rather indecisive about whether they like this competition or not.
2025 | Hosts – Pakistan 🇵🇰 & United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪 Winners – ???
Pakistan hosted the majority of this year’s tournament, it’s the first time they hosted a tournament after almost 29 years.
However, The UAE had to step up to host India’s matches, due to their refusal to play in Pakistan, meaning the final will also be played in Dubai.
Most notably, Afghanistan participated in the tournament for the first time, unsurprisingly beating England in the group stages, which ultimately knocked them out, and forced Jos Buttler to vacate captaincy.
New Zealand will face India in the final after they knocked South Africa out, whilst India beat Australia in the other semi-final.
Will New Zealand be able to win their second tournament or will India make it three? We’ll have to find out this Sunday.
