ICC Champions Trophy 2002: Knockout makes way for Champions

Semifinals

The semifinals pitted tournament favourites South Africa against India. India, riding on contributions from Sehwag, Dravid and Yuvraj, made a competitive 261. Herschelle Gibbs had other ideas and single-handedly tore the bowling to shreds. By the time Gibbs retired in the 37th over for 116, the Africans needed just 69 to win. The rest of the chase looked comfortable but Harbhajan Singh and Sehwag put India’s foot in the door. On a slow and turning track, the duo took five wickets for 62 between them and India pulled off a miracle win. The optimists uttered the ‘C’ word while the sceptics were quick to dismiss it as ‘fixed’. However, whatever be the case, one cannot deny that Yuvraj’s splendid catches to dismiss Graeme Smith and Jonty Rhodes were one of the best in a generation. It was befitting that one of the dismissals was that of the legendary Jonty Rhodes himself.

The track that exposed the demons of the South Africans against spin, spooked the Australians into submission against the Lankans two days later. Scoring at 8 an over with Gilchrist and Hayden pulverising Vaas and Gunaratne, Jayasuriya handed the ball to the veteran Aravinda De Silva. He was no Muralitharan but still had around a 100 ODI wickets to his name. In 10 overs, he conceded just 16 and picked up the wicket of Hayden. It pulled the handbrake of the Australian supercar and Jayasuriya used as many as 5 spinners to dismiss Australia for 162. Defending a paltry total against the hosts was never going to be easy and the hosts booked a place in the finals alongside India.

Final(s)

A tournament that was panned left, right and centre for off the field issues, had actually provided a week of entertaining games and the crowds pulled in for the final not only for one but two days. Both days were extremely identical with the slow track aiding the spinners and making a mockery of the seamers. Scores were similar and on both days, Sehwag showed glimpses of the kind of destruction he could inflict. However, it was not to be as the rain gods opened the flood gates on the Premadasa on both days, allowing India and Sri Lanka to share the spoils.

The 2002 Champions Trophy can be akin to the underdog with whom no one concerned had any expectations, were given hope and then left wanting for more. The edition pretty much sums up how the tournament’s existence has fared over the years.

As the 2013 edition starts, the ICC would sit and wonder whether the intention with which this tournament was started was achieved or not. Neither was it organised in any non Test playing nation post 2000 nor did it continue with the associates post 2004. Thus, it didn’t spread the game and the expected revenues weren’t raked in either. The Champions Trophy will now rest as a silverware which could have been something special but wasn’t.