ICC Champions Trophy : Heroes of the Finals

#6 Ravindra Jadeja – India v England (2013)

India were playing their third ICC Champions Trophy final. They had won it once, but the trophy was equally shared with Sri Lanka. England was hosting the tournament for the second time and this time, the venue for the final was Edgbaston, Birmingham. It was a rain affected match and number of overs was reduced to 20.

England, led by Alastair Cook won the toss and chose to field. Dhawan continued his superb form in the final but after his dismissal, India lost the momentum. Within 16 runs, they lost four wickets including Suresh Raina and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But Ravindra Jadeja finished off the innings well. His 33 from 25 was extremely valuable as India were able to pose a total of 129. Jadeja’s 2 boundaries and 2 sixes were much valuable to the Indian team.

Though England lost captain Alastair Cook early, but they were slowly moving towards their target. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were good with the ball. Jadeja picked up the wickets of Ian Bell and Jos Buttler, while Ashwin made Joe Root and Jonathan Trott his prey. England needed 28 runs from 18 deliveries, and skipper MS Dhoni asked the expensive Ishant Sharma to bowl again.

Ishant was the only expensive bowler for India, as many felt Dhoni is making a horrendous mistake. 8 runs in the first 3 balls, and pressure now completely was on the Indian camp. With 20 needed from 15, it seemed like a cake-walk for England. But Ishant struck twice in two balls to dismiss Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara. England needed 15 from the last over. With Ashwin bowling, they would have never got there.

MS Dhoni won his first ICC Champions Trophy. Due to superb all-round performance, Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged as Man of the Match.