ICC Champions Trophy 2017: 5 players who played the tournament just once
The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 has begun after a lot of anticipation from fans across the globe. If there is any competition that enjoys as much popularity as the ICC World Cup, it is the Champions Trophy. The competition began way back in 1998 when it was called the ICC Knockout Trophy. The name was changed in 2002 and ever since, it is known as the Champions Trophy with the top 8 teams of the world taking on each other to lift the coveted title.
Although the best in the business lock horns against each other, there have been some prolific international cricketers who were never fortunate enough to play the tournament more than once despite being among the finest to have represented their respective teams. Here are 5 players who played the tournament just once.
#1 Hansie Cronje
The ICC Knockout Trophy was first held in 1998 and it was the first time all the Test playing countries were participating in a tournament apart from World Cup. Under the brilliant captaincy of Hansie Cronje, Proteas emerged as the champions of the first edition of the tournament, after which they haven’t been able to win any ICC trophy till date. South Africa played their first match against England and chased down 283 comfortably.
In the semi-final, Sri Lanka were outclassed by the Proteas, after which they defeated West Indies in the final. Throughout the tournament, Cronje led his team really well and scored 148 runs which included an unbeaten 61 in the final.
All his runs were scored at a strike rate of around 91 which was commendable. Cronje was an inspirational leader for the Proteas but played just one Champions Trophy.