For those who haven’t forgotten the 2000-01 Champions Trophy (then ICC Knockout) final when New Zealand’s Chris Cairns snatched away what looked like an end to India’s wait for first ICC major title since 1983 World Cup, Sunday night was nothing less than a dream.
India have won two major titles — 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup — since that heartbreak. But they never managed to catch hold of this trophy. But it was this trophy that was missing from the cabinet or reigning world champions.India reached the final in 2002-03 as well but the rain played spoilsport and they had to share the title with Sri lanka. The rain threatened to ruin India’s chances once again when it delayed the start of the final on Sunday.
However, the determined India managed to finally add the Champions Trophy, which was in its last edition, to their pool of trophies with a nerve-wracking five-run victory over hosts England in the rain-hit final, which was reduced to 20 overs a side.It gave Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, deservedly, the unique record of being the first captain to win three world titles. It was Dhoni’s inspirational and intelligent captaincy that led the Indian team to defend just 129 runs in 20 overs against England. He spurred his teammates by telling them to play like world champions and defend a sub-par score.
“Before going in I said, let’s first of all get rid of the feeling that it’s a 50-over game. It’s a 20-over game, and we have seen in IPl and in T20 formats, 130 runs can be a difficult target to achieve,” Dhoni said. “I told them not to look at the sky or the opposition. I told them that God helps those who help themselves. I said God is not coming to save us. If you want to win this trophy, we’ll have to fight it out,” he said while addressing the media in the post-match press conference on Sunday night.
“It is unfair to call it the final of the Champions Trophy. When the final of a 50-over game is decided by a T20 game, then some shine is lost but this win means a lot. We played against the best teams in the world and to beat England in England is always good,” Dhoni said. India restricted England to 124 for eight in a topsy-turvy game that went down to the wire. Ravindra Jadeja with 33 not out and 2/24 emerged as hero for India.
“Jadeja is someone who keeps it very simple. He bowls a good line and lets the ball do the talking. The good part was he contributed with the bat, which I feel is very important because he’s someone who will have to bat at number seven,” the Indian captain said. Dhoni also praised Man of the Series Shikhar Dhawan, highest scorer of the tournament.
“Shikhar has taken forward his form in the Test series against Australia and after an injury, did well in the IPl. I am happy that he has contributed as an opener and that’s another good sign for us. He’ll gain a lot of confidence out of the innings that he has played, especially over here. And that will really help the team more often than not get off to a good start.”