ICC Announce Team Of Champions Trophy, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan Included

A day after Pakistan defeated India to lift their maiden Champions Trophy, the International Cricket Council announced the official Team of the Champions Trophy, with four players from Pakistan and Sarfraz Ahmed named skipper of the star-studded team.  Three Indians, three Englishmen and one Bangladeshi complete the team with Kane Williamson getting picked up as the 12th man.

The side was selected by a jury of cricket experts, which included former England skipper Michael Atherton, ex-India skipper Sourav Ganguly, Pakistan’s Ramiz Raja as well as Lawrence Booth (Editor, Wisden Almanack and cricket writer, The Mail) and Julian Guyer (cricket correspondent, Agence France-Presse), with ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, as chairman.

The ICC, in its release, stated that the jury was tasked with selecting a balanced side on the basis of performances in the tournament. Statistics were used as an important basis for picking up the team but they were not the sole basis for the same.

India’s Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the cut for the team.

Dhawan and Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman were named the openers while Tamim Iqbal, Kohli and Joe Root have been assigned the responsibility of the middle-order of the team. Ben Stokes is the only allrounder in the team while Adil Rashid, Junaid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hassan Ali will take care of the bowling unit.

One can say that the team has been picked on expected lines. Dhawan finished the tournament as its highest run-scorer with 338 runs in five games while Fakhar Zaman impressed one and all with his stunning century in the final of the tournament. Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was also in good form throughout the tournament, scoring two half-centuries in 4 matches in addition to scoring a century in the tournament opener against England.  Kohli and Root were the fourth and fifth highest run-getters in the tournament with both scoring 258 runs in 5 and 4 games respectively. Stokes, who took three wickets in addition to scoring 184 runs, will shoulder the responsibility of the allrounder in the team.

In bowling, Adil Rashid was the highest wicket-taker as a spinner, finishing sixth in the chart with 8 scalps to his name while Junaid Khan and player of the tournament Hasan Ali played a key role in Pakistan’s historic triumph.

“To be appointed as captain of the Team of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, which includes some of the finest and most attractive cricketers of this generation, is the perfect icing on the cake,” said Sarfraz who had played a match-winning knock of 61 runs against Sri Lanka in the must-win game. “But I am more happy and delighted for players like Fakhar Zaman and Hassan Ali, who impressed their peers through their talent and performances, and found their way in the side. These two lads, plus Shadab Khan, are the future of Pakistan cricket and I sincerely hope they will only go in the upward direction from here.”

“The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 has been a fairy tale journey for the Pakistan cricket team. The event showed the team’s grit and ability to bounce back solidly when the chips are down. I am confident that the faith and trust of the Pakistan cricket team will be strengthened with this performance of the side,” he added.

Here is the Team of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 (in batting order):

i) Shikhar Dhawan (India) (338 runs)i) Shikhar Dhawan (India) (338 runs)
ii) Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan) 252 runs)
iii) Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh) (293 runs)
iv) Virat Kohli (India) (258 runs)
v) Joe Root (England) (258 runs)
vi) Ben Stokes (England) (184 runs and three wickets)
vii) Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan) (captain) (wicketkeeper) (76 runs and nine dismissals)
viii) Adil Rashid (England) (seven wickets)
ix) Junaid Khan (Pakistan) (eight wickets)
x) Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India) (seven wickets)
xi) Hassan Ali (Pakistan) (13 wickets)
xii) Kane Williamson (New Zealand (12th) (244 runs)