4 Indian Players who have won all 3 ICC Titles
ICC competitions are the marquee events of cricket. They light up the cricketing world every time they are conducted, with great zeal and enthusiasm among the players and the sports fanatics. Team strategies are zeroed in on winning the titles more than a year before the events are conducted, with the teams even willing to lose a series or two, in a pursuit to find their winning combination.
The International Cricket Council conducts three marquee events in an interval of every two/four years. These include the ICC World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy, and the ICC T20 World Cup. The earliest of these events is the World Cup, which was first held in 1975, followed by the Champions Trophy, which was first organised in 1998 as the Knockout Trophy, with the T20 World Cup being the latest sensation, just more than a decade ago.
While winning even one of these tournaments is a matter of great pomp and pride for the teams, there have been some teams like India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Pakistan that have managed to win all three of these titles. Furthermore, there have been some players who have worked really hard on their games and in the respective campaigns to taste success in all the three events.
Let us have a look at these players:
#4 Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh was one of the main exponents of spin bowling of India for more than a decade. He was a part of the winning squads of the inaugural World T20 in 2007 and the ICC World Cup of 2011 under MS Dhoni while he also featured in the ICC Champions Trophy 2002, a tournament which India shared with Sri Lanka under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.
Bhajji had a good run in the Champions Trophy of 2002, picking up 6 wickets from 5 matches, including figures of 3/27 in the first final that was washed away. He had consistent outings in the tournament and was quite economical.
Five years hence, Harbhajan found himself as one of the senior pros who was travelling to South Africa, as India presented their claim as contenders of the inaugural World T20, in the first leadership assignment of MS Dhoni. He was India's main spinner in the tournament and featured in all the matches. He picked up 7 wickets from 6 matches and was also entrusted with the ball by skipper Dhoni in the epic bowl-out against Pakistan.
Harbhajan also went on to play the World Cup in 2011 which was co-hosted by India. Once again, he played in all the games in the tournament but could pick only 9 wickets from 9 matches, although he managed to keep things tight for the opposition.
Though Harbhajan was not the stand-out performer in these victorious campaigns, he was one of those who brought great balance into the side and constantly maintained the pressure on the opposition's batsmen.