Champions Trophy winning captains: There are only two days left for the start of the Champions Trophy. The first match of the tournament is to be played between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi on 19 February. This tournament was last held in 2017 and it is making a comeback after a long wait of eight years. The importance of this tournament being played since 1998 is very high and it is considered the second biggest tournament of ODI cricket after the ODI World Cup. Many teams have won the Champions Trophy title so far. Let’s take a look at those eight captains who have lifted the Champions Trophy title so far.
8. Hansie Cronje
When the Champions Trophy was organized for the first time in 1998, South Africa won the final of this tournament under the captaincy of Hansie Cronje. At that time it was also known as the Knockout Trophy. However, after that South Africa never came close to the title.
7. Stephen Fleming
In 2000, under the captaincy of Stephen Fleming, New Zealand won the Champions Trophy title by defeating India in the final. This is the only ICC trophy New Zealand has won to date. Meanwhile, they have lost consecutive finals in both the T20 and ODI World Cup.
6 & 5 Sourav Ganguly And Sanath Jayasuriya
Rain spoiled the fun in the final of the Champions Trophy played in 2002. The match had to be stopped midway due to rain on the day of the final. After this, the match started again on the reserve day, but it rained that day too and the match could not be completed. After this, Sri Lanka captained by Sanath Jayasuriya, and India captained by Sourav Ganguly were jointly declared champions.
4. Brian Lara
In 2004, The West Indies defeated England in the final. West Indies was successful in winning the Champions Trophy under the captaincy of Brian Lara by defeating the host. However, since then West Indies has not won any ICC tournament in ODI format.
3. Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting is the only captain who has succeeded in winning the Champions Trophy title twice. In the tournament played in India in 2006, Australia defeated West Indies in the final and became the champion.
MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting as captains:
— ICC (@ICC) August 18, 2020
🏏 655 matches
✔️ 397 wins
🏆 Three @cricketworldcup titles
🎖️ Three Champions Trophy titles
⭐ One @T20WorldCup title
Two of the greatest 🏏 leaders of all time! pic.twitter.com/7UDUqVPU4O
In 2009, when the Champions Trophy was organized in South Africa, Australia defended its title by defeating New Zealand in the final. This time too, Ponting was the captain of Australia. In this way, he achieved the feat of becoming the only captain to win the Champions Trophy twice.
2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
In 2013, India last won the Champions Trophy title under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This tournament was played in England and in the final, India also faced England. In the match affected by rain, India under Dhoni’s captaincy defeated England by playing brilliantly and captured the trophy.
1. Sarfaraz Ahmed
Dhoni was not the captain of India in 2017, but despite this, he showed strong intentions to defend his title by reaching the final. However, under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan won the final one-sidedly by a huge margin of 180 runs.