ICC Champions Trophy shared — it happened in the 2002 edition when India were named joint winners with hosts Sri Lanka. The tournament was marred with rain, and the final was washed out on successive days.
That match was held over two days. In fact, hosts Sri Lanka playing their full quota of 50 overs on both the days. Rains intervened when India started their run chase and, as a consequence, Sourav Ganguly and Sanath Jayasuriya jointly held aloft the trophy. The then rules said that the match would start afresh on the reserve day and not resume from where it was stopped.
Sunday’s final between India and England was a stop-start affair. The threat of a washout loomed large as intermittent rains killed time and almost rendered the outfield unsuitable for the final.
So why didn’t the ICC didn’t have a reserve day for this game especially since it is known that the English weather can be extremely fickle at this time of the year?
Was it a faux pas? The reason established is that a few members of the Indian team are boarding a plane to the West Indies for the tri-series starting June 28, while England will play their first of two T20s against New Zealand on Tuesday.
Also, the possibility of having the final a day earlier was ruled out as India played their semifinal on Thursday. As per their schedule, one day was reserved for travel and another for practice. It meant that the earliest the final could have been held was Sunday, ruling out the possibility of a reserve day.
Mohammad Kaif, part of India’s 2002 Champions Trophy team, said, “It’s a little surprising that there is no reserve day. This is a big tournament. Generally we can’t predict the English weather. It rains off and on. It was unfortunate to see not all the matches being completed.”
Asked how it felt to share the trophy in 2002 after being on the field for 100 overs, Kaif said, “We were not happy sharing the trophy. We were in form and would have liked to win the final as we had it under our control. Earlier in the year, we won the NatWest Trophy.
“We had the upper hand after restricting Sri Lanka to less than 250 on both the days (244/5 and 222/7). We had a long batting line-up and the players were in form. The totals could be easily chased. We fielded for 100 overs in the heat, 50 overs back-to-back. The kind of energy Yuvraj (Singh) and I put on the field was tiring. It was frustrating not to get a chance to bat.”
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