India‘s last two senior-level ICC trophy wins in men’s cricket are the 2013 Champions Trophy and the 2024 T20 World Cup. MS Dhoni guided the Men in Blue to the Champions Trophy title 11 years ago in the UK, while Rohit Sharma led India to the T20 World Cup trophy in Barbados on Saturday.
Three players – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja – were part of both squads. In 2013, India defeated hosts England in a nail-biting final, and on Saturday, India overcame South Africa in an edge-of-the-seat thriller to secure the title.
Beyond the common players and similar dramatic endings, here are five unnoticed coincidences between India’s 2013 Champions Trophy and 2024 T20 World Cup triumphs.
#5 India experimented with a new opening pair for the major tournament
It’s uncommon for any team to use a new opening pair in an ICC event, but India did it in 2013 when Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan opened the batting in their Champions Trophy opener against South Africa. In the previous ODI, Gautam Gambhir had opened with Rohit.
Similarly, in 2024, India used Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as openers in the T20 World Cup. Rohit and Virat hadn’t opened together for India since 2021. In the last T20I before the World Cup, Rohit opened with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
#4 A specialist opener and a leg-spinner stayed on the bench for the entire tournament
India kept specialist opener Murali Vijay and leg-spinner Amit Mishra on the bench throughout the 2013 Champions Trophy, with MS Dhoni not changing his playing XI in any of the five matches.
Similarly, in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma made only one change by bringing in left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for fast bowler Mohammed Siraj in the Super 8s. However, specialist opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal remained on the bench for the entire tournament.
#3 India did not play any matches in that format for over four months
The Champions Trophy 2013 took place in June, and India didn’t play any ODIs after January 27 of that year, resulting in nearly five months without an ODI match. Their first Champions Trophy game was on June 6 against South Africa.
Similarly, in 2024, India played their last T20I before the T20 World Cup on January 17. Their first match of the 2024 T20 World Cup was on June 5 against Ireland.
#2 Virat Kohli teamed up with a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder in the final
Virat Kohli was India’s top scorer in both the Champions Trophy 2013 and the 2024 T20 World Cup finals, scoring 43 against England in 2013 and 76 against South Africa on Saturday.
As in all both the finals, India lost early wickets. In 2013, India were at 66-5 when Kohli partnered with Ravindra Jadeja for a 47-run sixth-wicket stand. In 2024, Kohli formed a 68-run fourth-wicket partnership with Axar Patel.
#1 Rohit Sharma and the wicketkeeper’s scores in the final matches of the Champions Trophy 2013 and T20 World Cup 2024
In the 2013 Champions Trophy, Rohit Sharma scored two half-centuries but was dismissed by Stuart Broad for just nine runs in the final. Similarly, in the 2024 T20 World Cup Final, Sharma was caught by Heinrich Klaasen off Keshav Maharaj also after scoring nine runs.
Meanwhile, India’s wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was dismissed without scoring (duck) against Maharaj in the 2024 T20 World Cup final. In 2013, wicketkeeper MS Dhoni also got out for a duck off Ravi Bopara. Interestingly, both Bopara and Maharaj have Indian origins and were the standout bowlers for India’s opponents in the respective finals.
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