ICC announces groups for ICC Champions Trophy 2017
ICC announce groups for ICC Champions Trophy 2017
ICC releases the group for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and it is the first time West Indies have not been included in the tournament. The Tournament starts India is the defending champions for the tournament. They won the tournament in 2013 at England. Next year’s ICC Champions Trophy will also be hosted in England. England were runners up of the Tournament in the last edition. West Indies’ exclusion from the tournament raises eyebrows. They were not able to qualify for the Tournament as they failed to make it into top 8 in ICC rankings. The Tournament will be held in June 2017. ALSO READ: India to begin title defence against Pakistan in Champions Trophy 2017
Group A: Australia, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh
Group B: India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
This will be a good news for India, Pakistan fans as they go head to head in Group B. This group features 3 subcontinent teams and South Africa. India will be looking to extend their lead of 12-2 against Pakistan in ICC events. They will be under pressure going into the tournament as defending champions. There will be lot of expectations from Bangladesh as they have emerged as better team than before. Mustafizur Rahman will be a player to watch out for Bangladesh as he has remained a mystery to the batsman.
Here’s the full schedule:
| Date | Match | Venue |
| Jun-01 | England vs Bangladesh (d) | The Oval |
| Jun-02 | Australia vs New Zealand (d) | Edgbaston |
| Jun-03 | Sri Lanka vs South Africa (d) | The Oval |
| Jun-04 | India vs Pakistan (d) | Edgbaston |
| Jun-05 | Australia vs Bangladesh (d/n) | The Oval |
| Jun-06 | England vs New Zealand (d) | Cardiff |
| Jun-07 | Pakistan vs South Africa, Edgbaston (d/n) | Edgbaston |
| Jun-08 | India vs Sri Lanka (d) | The Oval |
| Jun-09 | New Zealand vs Bangladesh (d) | Cardiff |
| Jun-10 | England vs Australia (d) | Edgbaston |
| Jun-11 | India vs South Africa (d) | The Oval |
| Jun-12 | Sri Lanka vs Pakistan (d) | Cardiff |
| Jun-14 | First semi-final (A1 v B2) (d) | Cardiff |
| Jun-15 | Second semi-final (A2 v B1) (d) | Edgbaston |
| Jun-18 | Final, The Oval (d) | The Oval |
| Jun-19 | Reserve day (d) |
Only Australia have won the tournament for two times. India and Sri Lanka have won one tournament each and shared one due to rain in 2002 tournament. South Africa were the winners in the first edition of the tournament in 1998 held at Bangladesh. New Zealand and West Indies have won the tournament once in 2000 and 2004 respectively.
Note: (d) refers to Day games and (d/n) refers Day-Night clashes.