Flashback: When India defeated Pakistan for the first time in Champions Trophy

India holds an impressive record in World Cups against Pakistan in ODIs and T20s combined. Indians have remained unbeaten in the World Cup events against their arch rivals since they first met in the 1992 World Cup held in Australia until the last time they met at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the T20 World Cup of 2016. This scenario peeved way for Star Sports to make a hilarious advertisement campaign popularly known as ‘Mauka Mauka’.

Indians have defeated Pakistan a record 11 number of times in total, which comprises of some of the most iconic matches including the win at Centurion, where Sachin was too hot to handle for the likes of Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, and Shoaib Akhtar or the win at Johannesburg where Misbah chipped one in the air and Sreesanth grabbed hold of the catch at short fine leg and, thereby, Dhoni and his men were crowned T20 champions.

But when it came to Champions Trophy, the men in green had their noses ahead of the Indians before the edition of 2013. Indians met Pakistan in the Champions Trophy of 2004 for the first time in this form of a multi-lateral championship. Pakistan emerged victorious in this meeting and even the subsequent one in 2009 to boast about their record against their rivals in the tournament.

Much was expected out of the Indian team when they met again four years later at Edgbaston, Birmingham to open their account against Pakistan in the tournament. India finally managed to win one to put a premature end to Pakistan’s dominance in the multi-lateral tournament. Let us look at the Indo-Pak rivalry in the Champions Trophy over the years in detail.

12th Match: India v Pakistan at Birmingham – Sep 19, 2004

India faced Pakistan for the first time in ICC Champions Trophy back in 2004. It was a clash of titans as both sides possessed heavyweights by the names of Ganguly, Sehwag, Laxman, Dravid, Inzamam, Youhana and Shoaib Akhtar. Pakistan captain won the toss and elected to field first. The move paid off dividends as Indians were reduced to 73-5 with the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh.

Over the years, the altercation between Dravid and Akhtar is remembered from the match. Dravid was en route to take a double after he drove one on the back foot towards covers, off the bowling of Akhtar. Rawalpindi Express appeared to block the way of the wall while he set out to complete his second run, which resulted in a collision between the two. Before the argument between the two went further, Inzy acted as the referee to promote peace between them.

India could only manage a total of 200, due to exceptional bowling from Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Akhtar who picked up four wickets each. However, it was only due to Rahul Dravid’s 67 and Ajit Agarkar’s 47 that India managed the below par score.

Indian’s hope to defend the paltry total lit up after Irfan Pathan picked up three crucial wickets to take the Pakistani top order out of the equation. Pak was reduced to 27-3 after the dismissal of Yasir Hameed in the 11th over. That was when Mohammad Yousuf (then called Yousuf Youhana) walked in to bat and steered his team with his unbeaten innings of 81 to deflate all Indian hopes in the match.

Even though Pakistan lost a flurry of wickets in the middle, they managed to win the match by 3 wickets to draw first blood against Indians in tournament history. Indians were knocked out of the tournament with this defeat even though they won against Kenya.

6th Match, Group A: India v Pakistan at Centurion – Sep 26, 2009

India intended to seek revenge in South Africa for their loss five years back in England. India took on the field with vivid memories of their World Cup win against their opponents back in 2003. The Indian team had to play Pakistan without the services of Yuvraj and Sehwag who were at their prime back in the days. Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first.

Within first fifteen overs, Pakistan was reduced to 65-3. It was Shoaib Malik who dominated proceedings since, with his sizzling knock of 128 at a strike rate of 101.58, hitting the fragile bowling unit of India to all parts of the ground. Yet again, it was the number 5 for Pakistan who took the game away from India. Mohammad Yousuf played another glamourous inning of almost a run a ball 87.

Pakistan posted a daunting total of 302 in front of Indians without two of their key batsmen. The onus then lied on the likes of Tendulkar, young Kohli, Dhoni, and hard-hitting Pathan. The match was perfectly placed with Dravid and Gambhir’s partnership. But as soon as the latter departed, India lost momentum in the middle by losing wickets at regular intervals. Dravid tried his level best to consolidate with wickets falling at the other end with his 76.

The cameo from Raina down the order proved to be insufficient as the team bundled out within 15 overs for a score of 248. Pakistan continued their domination in the Champions Trophy with yet another win against the Indians by a comfortable margin of 54 runs. Indians were yet again knocked out of a major tournament in the group stages by Pakistan.

10th Match, Group B: India v Pakistan at Birmingham – Jun 15, 2013

Four years down the road, Indians were a different side altogether, with no Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid or Yuvraj in the One-day circuit. Neither were the likes of Nehra and Harbhajan in the bowling department. The new look Indian side had the likes of Dhawan, Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Ravi Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav in the setup.

Pakistan batting transformed over the years in between. They lost the services of some of the key batsmen in their lineup and Pakistan invested in new upcoming names in the bowling department. The batting of Pakistan during those years developed a reputation for being fragile while India backed their batting strengths to overhaul oppositions even though bowlers were finding their feet in international cricket.

This was the best opportunity for the Indians to open their account in the competition against their arch rivals. Dhawan, the eventual Golden Bat winner in the tournament, was sensational in the tournament with his century against West Indies and South Africa prior to the fixture against their rivals.

Looking at the overcast conditions at Edgbaston, Dhoni had no hesitation to chase and it was the Indian bowlers who had a field day as Ashwin, Bhuvi, Jadeja and Ishant Sharma picked up a couple each. They restricted the Pakistani batsmen to a sub-par total of 165. Almost every batsman got starts but none managed to keep going as Indians chipped in with wickets at regular interval. This was the golden opportunity for the Indians to end Pakistan’s winning streak in the event.

To make matters worse for the men in green, persistent rains reduced India’s target by 60 runs as India needed to chase down 102 in 22 overs. Shikhar Dhawan demoralized the Pakistanis with his quickfire 41-ball 48. The formalities were completed by Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli as India won the match by 8 wickets by Duck-Worth Lewis Method and progressed into the semi-finals. India went on to win the tournament and also ended their dry spell against Pakistan in ICC Champions Trophy in style.