Shape Up Soon Or You Will Be Shipped Out!
Sportstar|June 10, 2017

However weak the opposition, the tournament’s format means that one NEGATIVE RESULT CAN KNOCK A TEAM OUT. There is little time for sides to ease themselves into the competition. Therein lies the beauty of the Champions Trophy, writes SHREEDUTTA CHIDANANDA.

Shreedutta Chidananda
Shape Up Soon Or You Will Be Shipped Out!

The ICC Champions Trophy was meant to have disappeared from our sightsfour years ago, strangely phased out in favour of a proposed World Test Championship. Following the success of the 2013 edition, though, the ICC resurrected the Champions Trophy in early 2014, instead doing away with the World Test Championship.

“IT PROVED IMPOSSIBLE to come up with a format for a four-team-finals event in Test cricket that fits the culture of Test cricket and preserves the integrity of the format,” an ICC press release in February 2014 said. “The most recent ICC Champions Trophy event proved to be very popular with supporters around the world and the future events will build on this success. It’s also an event that any ICC Member (including the top Associate Members) can aspire to qualify for by improving their performances in ODI cricket. With the ICC Champions Trophy alongside the ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 and the formats and venues already confirmed for all of these events the ICC has a really attractive package for 201523 to take to the market.”

IT IS AS PART OF THIS ‘attractive package’ that the 2017 Champions Trophy arrives, an 18-day competition in the UK with no inconsequential fixtures. There is no need, unlike the World Cup, to wait a whole month for the knock-outs. “On a few previous occasions, I felt there were a lot of other Associate nations and it had kind of devalued the Champions Trophy. But this time a couple of weeks and it was over. The little changes which ICC made here, the players really enjoyed it. Tournaments like this would certainly help the game,”

Ricky Ponting noted in 2009,when the Champions Trophy had first switched to an eight-team format.

Denne historien er fra June 10, 2017-utgaven av Sportstar.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra June 10, 2017-utgaven av Sportstar.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA SPORTSTARSe alt
Tokyo Marathon Cancelled For Amateurs On Coronavirus Fears
Sportstar

Tokyo Marathon Cancelled For Amateurs On Coronavirus Fears

Organisers in Japan cancelled the amateur portion of the Tokyo marathon, affecting around 38,000 runners, on fears about the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan.

time-read
1 min  |
March 21, 2020
Right Criteria To Pick The Tennis GOAT
Sportstar

Right Criteria To Pick The Tennis GOAT

What should the criteria be? What weight should be attached to each criterion? And what should not be considered as valid criteria?

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 8, 2020
The making of a batting behemoth
Sportstar

The making of a batting behemoth

If Steve Smith dominated the Ashes in England in a dramatic, blockbuster fashion then his like for like a replacement, Marnus Labuschagne, is the Next Big Thing after an exciting summer of run-glut.

time-read
4 mins  |
February 8, 2020
WHEN ACES WERE REWARDED...
Sportstar

WHEN ACES WERE REWARDED...

It was an evening of nostalgia and celebration when the Sportstar Aces awards were given away in Mumbai.

time-read
6 mins  |
February 8, 2020
A question of recognition
Sportstar

A question of recognition

After a week of awards, one wonders if it’s only a departed player that one will be named after.

time-read
2 mins  |
February 8, 2020
Thinking straight, thinking right!
Sportstar

Thinking straight, thinking right!

“A lot depends on when I am bowling and what is required from me. That’s something I do when I play for India and I try to follow the same thing in the domestic circuit,” says Yuzvendra Chahal.

time-read
7 mins  |
December 14, 2019
The Big Three and the Next Gen
Sportstar

The Big Three and the Next Gen

Though the Big Three are very unlikely to retire during the same year, Judy Murray, mother of Andy, echoed the sentiments of many fans worried about the impact of their departures.

time-read
9 mins  |
December 14, 2019
WAKING UP TO MENTAL HEALTH
Sportstar

WAKING UP TO MENTAL HEALTH

Sport at large and cricket specifically has taken an inordinately long time to address the elephant in the room — the dark abyss of depression.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 14, 2019
Like sunshine in a gloomy dressing room
Sportstar

Like sunshine in a gloomy dressing room

Bangladesh quick Abu Jayed Rahi is new in the red-ball arena, but his swing brings back old memories — of James Anderson on green tops.

time-read
6 mins  |
December 14, 2019
The league of the masses
Sportstar

The league of the masses

With traditional clubs locking horns with the hard-working nurseries of the game, the I-League will continue to keep the beating heart of Indian football alive despite official apathy.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 14, 2019