ICC Tournaments in England: A look at India's performance

#7 ICC Champions Trophy 2017

India v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy Final

After India’s success in the Champions Trophy in England in 2013, a lot was expected from the team in 2017. India rekindled the expectations of the fans by thrashing Pakistan by 124 runs in the first match.

India lost to Sri Lanka by seven wickets even after scoring 321. Their next match against South Africa was a knockout game. In that match, South Africa lived up to their tag of “chokers”. From 140 for 2, South Africa collapsed to 191 all out. India reached the semi-finals by beating South Africa by eight wickets.

Bangladesh reached the semi-finals ahead of Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. India promptly thrashed them by nine wickets and reached the finals to meet Pakistan.

Up and until then, things were moving in the right direction as per the script for India. But in the finals, the moment Virat Kohli won the toss and put Pakistan into bat, it was game over for India. Pakistan heaped up 338 runs and crushed India by a massive margin. The Indian team was yet again in shambles in an ICC tournament in England.

One look at the above history suggests that it has been a roller coaster ride for India in ICC tournaments in the UK involving many emotional highs and lows.

After the downward slide in the Champions Trophy in 2017, the roller coaster is now expected to trek in the upward direction in this World Cup. Can Kohli emulate Kapil and Dhoni?