India's 1st ever Champions Trophy squad: Where are they now?
In an attempt to generate more revenues and also spread the game to different locations, A nine-team event called the Wills International Cup was formed in 1998, with the first edition being played in Bangladesh.
In the second edition, it was renamed the ICC Knockout Trophy and then finally renamed as the Champions Trophy.
Here we look back at the Indian squad for the inaugural event and where some of the are now:
1.Sachin Tendulkar
The Mumbai cricketer was India’s best batsman going into the competition, having had a staggering season already with the bat in hand. His defining performance in the competition came in the quarterfinal against Australia when he smashed 141 runs to help India post a score of 307 for 8 in their 50 overs, which proved to be too good for the Australians.
Tendulkar played in as many as 5 Champions Trophy editions, winning it once in 2002. After his retirement from the game in 2013, the 44-year-oldhas kept himself involved in the game through the Indian Premier League, where he mentors the Mumbai Indians.
A movie on his life will also be released on Friday.
2.Sourav Ganguly
The former India captain, playing his first major event for India, had a tournament to forget in Dhaka, making a mere 84 runs in 2 matches. 83 of those runs came in the semifinal against the West Indies, which the Men In Blue lost by 6 wickets.
He made up for that poor showing in the next edition, where his batting exploits were critical for India’s march to the finals. In all, he played in 3 Champions Trophy competition during the course of his career.
Ganguly is currently the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal and also part of BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee(CAC).
3.Mohammad Azharuddin(Captain)
The captain of the team that played in that competition, Azharuddin, like Ganguly, had a forgettable outing, making 1 and 0 in the two games that his side played. The event would turn out to be last Champions Trophy appearance and perhaps the worst, among all the major events, he took part in during the course of a 15-year career.
Presently, Azhar is serving as a Member of Parliament from Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh.