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