The Champions Trophy 2025 tournament is just about to commence on 19th February, till now it has been held 8 times since 1998. South Africa was the first team to lift the title of this tournament and Pakistan was the last team to lift the title by defeating India in the finals. It is an ODI format tournament where batting partnerships are necessary to build huge innings and put a good total on the board.
5 biggest partnerships of the Champions Trophy
1- Shane Watson-Ricky Ponting:
In 2009 Australia defeated England by 9 wickets with the help mammoth partnership of 252* Runs between Watson and Ponting. Watson contributed a total of 136* runs in 132 balls and Ponting managed to contribute 111 runs in 115 balls. This is the highest partnership in the Champions Trophy tournament.
2- Shakib Al Hasan-Mahmudullah:
In 2017 Bangladesh won the match by 5 wickets defeating New Zealand built on the solid partnership of Shakib and Mahmudullah of 224 runs for the 5th wicket. Shakib made 114 runs in 115 balls and Mahmudullah managed to make 102 runs in 107 balls.
3- Shohaib Malik-Mohammad Yousuf:
In the year of 2009, Australia. Pakistan defeated India by 54 runs with the help of Shohaib and Yousuf’s firm partnership of 206 runs for the 4th wicket. Shohaib made a total of 128 runs in 126 balls along with Yousuf making 87 runs in 88 balls.
4- Sehwag-Ganguly, Gayle-Wavell Hinds:
In the year 2002, Sehwag the explosive opener, and Ganguly the inning-builder skipper of Team India made a solid partnership of 192 runs. Sehwag made 126 runs and Ganguly managed to make 116 runs and India won the match by 8wickets.
Later in 2004 Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds added 192 runs against Bangladesh in the 2004 Champions Trophy. Gayle scored 99 runs while Hinds scored 82 runs.
5-Jacques Kallis-Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli: There are 2 pairs jointly at the 5th position. South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs added 178* runs against India in the 2002 Champions Trophy. Gibbs scored 116 runs. Kallis played an innings of 97 runs. However, they lost the match by 10 runs. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli added 178* runs against Bangladesh in 2017. Rohit scored 123* and Kohli scored 96 runs.
Looking Ahead
With the introduction of the T20 format, the batsman has become more aggressive and explosive. This tournament will be filled with swashbuckling performances of batsmen with higher strike rates and the top contenders for the same could be – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Travis Head, Phil Salt, Jos Buttler etc and many more. Especially due to the pitches of Pakistan, there’s a possibility to see some mammoth totals on the board.
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