The talismanic Virat Kohli was the biggest name among six Indian players picked in the 12-member ‘Team of the Tournament’ picked by the International Cricket Council for the Champions Trophy. India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final in Dubai on Sunday to win the tournament for the third time after 2002 (joint winners) and 2013. India have been runners-up twice in 2000 and 2017. Besides Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and pacer Mohammed Shami featured in the playing XI, while all-rounder Axar Patel was named the 12th man.
The Black Caps have four members of their squad making the team, including Player of the Tournament Rachin Ravindra, with Mitchell Santner being named captain.
Two players from Afghanistan also made the cut after the Asian nation won their first-ever ICC Men’s Champions Trophy match in their debut appearance.
At the top of the order, Ravindra was an expected selection after he scored two centuries and topped the run-scoring charts with 263.
His knock of 112 against Bangladesh was instrumental in seeing New Zealand over the line and his 108 in the semi-final against South Africa showed he is dangerous wherever he bats.
Ravindra was joined by Ibrahim Zadran at the top of the order. The 23-year-old Afghan more than left his mark on the tournament, playing a brilliant knock of 177 — the highest-ever Champions Trophy score — against England in the group stage.
India’s Kohli slots in at number three after he finished fifth in the run-scoring charts with 218 at an average of 54.50.
Kohli made a memorable unbeaten century in his side’s group-stage win over Pakistan and a crucial 84 in the semi-final win over world champions Australia.
Teammates Shreyas and Rahul join him in the middle-order after impressive tournaments.
Iyer was India’s top run-scorer in the tournament, with two half-centuries helping him to 243 runs in total, while Rahul finished with an average of 140 thanks to unbeaten knocks of 42 and 34 in the semi-final and final respectively.
New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips is selected at number six after a brilliant performance with the bat and in the field.
Phillips’ diving one-handed catch to dismiss Shubman Gill in the final was one of three iconic takes across the tournament, while the 28-year-old scored one half century against Pakistan and took two wickets against South Africa in the semi-final to go alongside an unbeaten 49.
Azmatullah Omarzai is the second Afghan named in the team. The fast-bowling all-rounder had a fantastic tournament with both bat and ball, finishing with seven wickets at 20 and 126 runs at 42.00.
Santner is named as team captain after finishing the tournament with nine wickets – the joint second – but more importantly picked them at crucial times.
His knack of taking potential game-changing wickets was evident in the final. With the help of a sublime Phillips catch, he removed Gill and followed it up with the wicket of Iyer.
India’s Shami capped a successful return from injury by being selected after finishing with nine wickets.
Matt Henry, unfortunately, missed the final due to a shoulder injury he picked up during New Zealand’s semi-final win over South Africa but still finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 10 scalps at 16.70.
The team is completed by Chakravarthy, who took nine wickets in just three matches.
He bowled his full allocation in all the three matches he played.
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