Team India: Undisputed champions of the Champions Trophy 2013

‘Player of the Tournament’ Shikhar Dhawan, India captain MS Dhoni and ‘Man of the Match’ Ravindra Jadeja pose with their respective trophies during a photocall for the winners of the ICC Champions Trophy

The ICC Champions Trophy is such a type of tournament where one mistake can make a team exit the tournament. India not only became the champions by winning the final but they also did not lose a single match, right from the start till the end of the tournament. They defeated six different world class teams if we count the warm up matches too. They bowled, batted and fielded brilliantly.

Most players who were part of the 2011 World Cup winning team were not present in this squad. The team was full of youngsters and they did not have any experience of playing in any major ICC tournament, but they showed what it means to play for India where expectations of millions are attached. More often than not these youngsters were able to absorb the pressure and come out victorious. The way they celebrated after the victory showed how much this victory meant to them.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were opening the batting for the first time together and they didn’t disappoint. They complemented each other really well. They took the responsibility on their own shoulders and made sure that the middle order batsmen didn’t have to do that much work.

Virat Kohli also showed his classy batting when it came to the most important matches – the semi-finals and the finals. Ravindra Jadeja not only bowled well but also showed that he is a batting all-rounder. Whenever he got the opportunity with the bat he did well. He also executed the big strokes when it mattered the most, which was not seen when he played the 2009 T20 World Cup in England.

The fielding was absolutely magnificent this time. There were exceptions such as Ishant Sharma and R. Ashwin who run a bit slow on the field, but even their catching is good. The fast bowlers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav always got the team the initial breakthroughs which is very important when trying to apply pressure on the opposition. Ishant also bowled well in the middle overs; although he was expensive sometimes, no one can forget the two back-to-back wickets he took in the final.

India won the Champions Trophy convincingly. This victory became sweeter because India won in foreign conditions. This team looks great for the 2015 World Cup in Australia which is two years away.