Cricket
ICC Champions Trophy: Who Won the Most Titles?
The original idea of starting the ICC Champions Trophy, which is also popularly known as the “Mini World Cup,” was to financially support the non-Test-playing countries at that time.
Sarfaraz Ahmed of Pakistan with ICC Champions Trophy//Getty Images
The Australian cricket team has won the ICC Champions Trophy twice, which is the most any team has won this tournament since it started back in 1998. The Indian cricket team could also be attributed to two ICC Champions Trophy titles but one of their title wins was shared with Sri Lanka in 2003.
The original idea of starting the ICC Champions Trophy, which is also popularly known as the “Mini World Cup,” was to financially support the non-Test-playing countries at that time. However, the charitable cause quickly became a fierce tournament that saw the best cricketers of the era vying for glory.
Over the years, the ICC Champions Trophy has seen seven winners across seven editions. Below we list the winners who have lifted the trophy in different editions.
ICC Champions Trophy Winners List (1998 - 2024)
| Year | Host Nation(S) | Winner | Runner-Up |
| 1998 | Bangladesh | South Africa | West Indies |
| 2000 | Kenya | New Zealand | India |
| 2002 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka and India | None |
| 2004 | England | West Indies | England |
| 2006 | India | Australia | West Indies |
| 2009 | South Africa | Australia | New Zealand |
| 2013 | England and Wales | India | England |
| 2017 | England and Wales | Pakistan | India |
| 2025 | Pakistan | TBD | TBD |
South Africa | 1998 ICC Champions Trophy Winner
The inaugural edition of the ICC Champions Trophy was a knockout tournament where the cricket world body, ICC (International Cricket Council), took out a leaf from FIFA’s Confederations Cup format where the best teams from the various confederations contested for the trophy. In cricket, ICC’s top teams competed in this edition with New Zealand being the only side to play and win a qualification match against Zimbabwe.
Jacques Kallis//Getty Images
South Africa had a star-studded side coming to the tournament and they would comfortably beat England at the Dhaka National Stadium in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final clash with Sri Lanka five days later. The competition got even lower in the semis as the Proteas defeated Sri Lanka by more than 100 runs thanks to Jacques Kallis’s century.
South Africa were the favourites to win the final after West Indies had stunned tournament favourites India in the other semi-final. Batting first, West Indies couldn’t capitalize on opener Philo Wallace’s century as Kallis yet again remained South Africa’s star player with a five-wicket haul. Chasing 246 runs was a cakewalk as Mike Rindel and skipper Hansie Cronje scored crucial runs to get the side over the rope for the teams’s first and only ICC tournament so far.
Sri Lanka was the first and only host to win the tournament, in 2002, but they were declared co-champions with India as the final was twice washed out.
New Zealand | 2000 ICC Champions Trophy Winner
The second edition of the Champions Trophy was still yet to be named so, and it went with its original name of ICC Knockout Trophy. Held in Kenya this time, all Test-playing nations were competing in it apart from hosts Kenya and top-ranking associate nation Bangladesh. Given that 11 teams couldn’t compete in the first round (the quarter-finals), a playoff was organized between the six lower-ranked sides. India, Sri Lanka and England would qualify from the qualification round.
New Zealand had an easy start to the tournament where they defeated Zimbabwe by 64 runs in Nairobi to set up a semi-final clash with Pakistan. Bowling first, New Zealand’s Shayne O’Connor took a five-wicket haul to limit Pakistan to 252 runs despite a century from Saeed Anwar. Chasing a gettable target, the Kiwis saw Nathan Astle (49), Roger Twose (87) and Craig McMillan (51) comfortably taking the side to the final with an over to spare.
New Zealand with Champions Trophy//Getty Images
Having lost the semi-final in sub-continental conditions last time in Bangladesh, a strong Indian side had reached the final by beating defending champions South Africa. With both the teams having players in red-hot form, the final was expected to be a tight affair and it didn’t disappoint the fans either. After India posted a target of 265 runs banking on a 141-run stand between Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, New Zealand saw Chris Cairns hit a late from the team being down to 37/2. Eventually, New Zealand won the finale with just two balls to spare.
India & Sri Lanka | 2003 ICC Champions Trophy - Joint Winners
With the previous two editions being held in knockout formats, ICC decided to organize a 12-team tournament in 2003 which would be a league cum knockout format. Apart from the 10 Test-playing nations and hosts Sri Lanka, the Netherlands also competed in the tournament this time with the total prize money announced at 1 million and the participating teams receiving $165,000 each.
Originally, India was supposed to host the tournament but tax exemption issues saw the 2003 edition being moved to Sri Lanka. 12 teams were divided into four pools each with India pitted in Pool 2 alongside England and Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka pitted against Netherlands and Pakistan in Pool 4. Both India and Sri Lanka would qualify as the top teams from their respective groups to book a semi-final spot. India defeated South Africa in the semi-finals for the second successive time in the tournament history, and Sri Lanka stunned Australia in their respective game.
Sachin Tendulkar//Getty Images
The finale had created all the right kind of hype with both the Asian teams equally star-studded on paper. Unfortunately, the summit clash couldn’t be completed due to rain. Sri Lanka batted first twice, the second time on the reserve day after rain abandoned the first match, but India never got to bat even 10 overs in return in both games. Eventually, the trophy was jointly handed to both teams.
Australia | 2006 ICC Champions Trophy Winners
The 2006 Champions Trophy had seen many firsts. It was the first time India hosted the tournament after much controversy in the previous edition with numerous rumours echoing that the cricket world body had planned to keep the pitches bowling-friendly for a change. Consequently, no Asian team had qualified for the semi-final of an ICC event for the first time since the 1975 ODI World Cup, and the tournament saw five of the 10 lowest team scores in the Champions Trophy history.
Coming at the back of their world-domineering run at consecutive ODI World Cups, a star-studded Australian side was the favourite in the round-robin format competition. Grouped alongside India, England and West Indies, Australia qualified with two wins as their only loss of the tournament came against West Indies in the group stages. With no sub-continental teams qualifying in the knockout stages, it was a level playing field for Australia, New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa.
Australian Players Celebrate with the Trophy//Getty Images
Australia overcame New Zealand’s challenge by a comfortable 34 runs at Mohali’s PCA Stadium while West Indies beat South Africa in their semi-final game. The final was a replay of the two team’s group game but West Indies remained far inferior on the day of the final in Mumbai. They were wrapped up for just 138 runs courtesy of a three-wicket haul by Nathan Bracken and braces by Glenn McGrath and Shane Watson. Chasing 139 runs, Watson (57) and Damien Martyn (47) made it look effortless as Australia lifted their first-ever ICC Champions Trophy.
Australia | 2009 ICC Champions Trophy - Winners
The sixth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan before security concerns forced the ICC to move it to South Africa. It followed a similar group and knockout format although it had two two groups of four teams each this time. Defending champions were pitted against India, Pakistan and West Indies, while New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka and South Africa formed Group B.
Australia remained undefeated throughout the tournament like the 2007 ODI World Cup. The Kangaroos started with a thumping 50-run victory over West Indies and followed it up with a close 2-run victory against Pakistan while the match against India remained a draw owing to rain. The other group saw New Zealand leading the table as the Kiwis lost to hosts South Africa before beating New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Ricky Ponting//Getty Images
Both Australia and New Zealand comfortably won their semi-final matches against England and Pakistan to set up a mouthwatering finale. However, New Zealand could rise to the occasion in the summit clash as Shane Watson’s unbeaten 105 helped Australia chase 201 runs with almost five overs to spare.
India | 2013 ICC Champions Trophy - Winners
Having reached the semi-finals of the tournament multiple times, the Champions Trophy had always remained a coveted target for the Men in Blue. Their being joint-winners with Sri Lanka in the 2003 edition never felt like a real win. The seventh edition of the tournament had $2 million as its prize money, the biggest in the tournament history and it was supposed to be the last Champions Trophy as well with the new World Test Championship replacing the ICC event.
Hosts England were grouped with Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia in Group A while defending World Cup winners India were pitted against South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan. Having won the T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup already, the Champions Trophy was the only ICC title missing from captain MS Dhoni’s cabinet.
India would win all their games comfortably to advance to the semi-finals while England had one loss to their name against Sri Lanka. Defending champions Australia had fallen from grace after finishing last in the group stages and failing to qualify.
Fuelled by an in-form top-order of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli and a rejuvenated Ravindra Jadeja, India didn’t lose a single game in the entire tournament. Their semi-final clash against Sri Lanka also remained a one-sided affair as the Men in Blue chased down 182 runs in 35 overs. The other finalists were hosts England who would defeat South Africa comfortably to reach the final as the favourites.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni//Getty Images
A rain-curtailed game forced the ODI final to be a 20-over affair and after India could only post a target of 130 runs, England had the title pretty much in their grasp. However, some mastermind captaincy by Dhoni from behind the stumps saw India limit England to 124 runs in the allotted overs as India lifted their first and only Champions Trophy title.
2017 - Pakistan | 2017 ICC Champions Trophy Winners
Though the 2013 Champions Trophy was supposed to be the last edition of the tournament, ICC later announced that the next edition would be held in England in 2017. Frequent rain had affected five of the 15 games in the tournament and both Australia and New Zealand, the 2015 ODI World Cup winners and runners-up, had failed to qualify for the knockouts.
A star-studded Indian team was on the hunt yet again and would qualify by winning two of three group games to reach the semi-final. England would again reach the semi-finals by winning all their group games and becoming one of the strong contenders for the title. Pakistan, however, were the surprise package of the tournament. The Men in Green had qualified despite having a negative net run rate, after losing to India by 124 runs in the group stages. But they stunned England by chasing 212 runs in 28 overs to set up a final with India.
With England eliminated, India were the downright favourites with Dhawan, Sharma and Kohli yet again spearheading their attack. However, Indian bowlers weren’t up to the mark and the finale saw Pakistan hammering 338 runs in 50 overs as Fakhar Azamn hit a blistering 114 runs to keep Pakistan on the front foot. After the bowlers disappointed India, the summit clash saw the top orders failing dramatically thereby exposing their middle order.
Pakistan Team with Champions Trophy//Getty Images
India’s only hope then was the newbie Hardik Pandya who had hammered 76 runs off 43 balls before an unfortunate run-out took him away. Mohammad Amir was Pakistan’s pick of the bowlers as he removed the top three batters effortlessly. Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan did the rest as Pakistan won the final by 180 runs thus avenging their group stage game.
FAQs
Virat Kohli was a part of the India team that won the 2013 Champions Trophy title. Apart from that, the former captain has 10 ICC Awards to his name.
Yes, South Africa had won the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy in 1998.
Yes, Rohit Sharma was a part of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy that India had won.
An M.A. in English Literature, Subhayan is an experienced journalist and sports writer. Having worked as a journalist at Hindustan Times, Subhayan covered diverse beats including sports, education, and health, showcasing his versatility and in-depth understanding of various subjects.