Highest Individual Scores For India In ICC Tournament Finals

It is always a big responsibility for the batsmen to observe the pressure in any ICC tournament final especially from India and the best of the players apply themselves out in the crease. The onus of the whole nation will be on the player and he will have to deliver in the best possible way for the country in a crunch match.

It is a big opportunity for the player to get their name in the book by performing in the biggest stages of the international matches and it adds a lot of value and respect to those players. With a note on that, here are the highest individual scores for India in the ICC tournament finals.

Highest Individual Scores For India In ICC Tournament Finals:

Hardik Pandya – 76

The Indian medium pace all-rounder Hardik Pandya lit up the Indian crowd through his aggressive knock in the finals against Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Having come up through the ranks in IPL, Hardik Pandya was yet to prove his credentials with the bat and this was the perfect opportunity for him.

Chasing a mammoth score of 339, India lost a cluster of wickets very early and were reeling at 72 for the loss of six wickets all the big guns are gone. Hardik came to the crease and played one of the best knocks by a batsman in a final by scoring a blistering 76 run knock-off just 43 balls with four fours and four sixes. He was unfortunate to be dismissed by a run-out from a poor call by Jadeja after giving a lot of hope to the Indian fans and India lost the game by 180 runs.

Virat Kohli – 77

This was in the final of the ICC 2014 T20 World cup when Virat Kohli was the only limelight for India in the batting order while every other batsman struggled to get going. Having lost the toss, India was sent in to bat first and India lost two wickets very early of Rahane and Rohit.

Kohli steadied the ship after coming in at three and he looked settled for a big score. He couldn’t take those risks as the batsmen around him couldn’t get going and eventually he took India to 130 for the loss of 4 wickets with an unbeaten knock of 77 in 58 balls. He struck four sixes and five fours but couldn’t take India over the line.

Virender Sehwag – 82

The final of the 2003 World cup in Johannesburg started off with Australia piling up a massive score of 259 on the board for the loss of two wickets with an unbeaten 140 run knock from the skipper Ricky Ponting. In reply, Sachin was out cheaply by Glenn Mcgrath and all eyes were on Virender Sehwag who had the capability to score quickly.

Sehwag scored a fine knock of 82 runs from 81 balls against a full-quality Australian bowling attack. He was unfortunate to be dismissed run out after hitting three sixes and ten fours in his innings. However, he couldn’t prevent India from losing the game by 125 runs.

MS Dhoni – 91

The final of the 2011 Worldcup in Mumbai began with Sri Lanka posting a fighting total of 274 for the loss of six wickets with an excellent century from Mahela Jayawardene. India needed to get off to a good start, but they lost both their in-form openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag very quickly.

Being the captain of the side, MS Dhoni went into the crease at the dismissal of Virat Kohli instead of Yuvraj Singh and he made one of the bravest decisions. It paid off beautifully, as he played out the danger from Muttiah Muralidharan and brought success to the team with his 91 run-knock of just 79 deliveries. He hit two sixes and eight fours in the innings and hit the winning runs with a six that will be remembered forever.

Gautam Gambhir – 97

Gautam Gambhir has been the man for the finals as he already top-scored for India in the 2007 T20 World cup final for India and he continued to enter the record books again. He played one of the best knocks in a final with a brilliant 97 in the 2011 Worldcup and was unfortunate to miss out on the century by just three runs.

Gambhir had a big task on their hands as the openers were dismissed early and he took the responsibility of getting those odd boundaries and keep the scoreboard ticking. He smacked nine fours in the innings and was happy to use his feet against the spinners especially.

Sourav Ganguly – 117

The final of the 2000 ICC Knockouts saw the toss is won by New Zealand and they put India into bat. Sourav Ganguly stitched an opening partnership of 141 and the stage was set for a big score. However, India kept on losing wickets from one end while Ganguly kept scoring from another end.

The former Indian skipper scored 117 runs off 130 balls with four sixes and nine fours in the innings and propelled India to a respectable score of 264 for the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs. New Zealand chased it down with two balls remaining after an unbeaten century from Chris Cairns that took the team home comfortably.