Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy
Sri Lanka, though managed to compete in every ICC Champions Trophy (initially ICC KnockOut Trophy) till date, reached the finals only once. However, unfortunately, the match got washed out by rain twice and the team had to share its win with India. Apart from that, it played in the semi-finals only once and got a place in the quarter finals thrice. Let’s take a thorough look at the track record of Sri Lanka, in ICC Champions Trophy, till date.
Sri Lanka in ICC Champions Trophy
1998 - Bangladesh
Squad: Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Aravinda de Silva, Marvan Atapattu, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena, Avishka Gunawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Roshan Mahanama, Muttiah Muralitharan, Hashan Tillakaratne, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Zoysa.
Performance: After the entering the debut tournament of Champions Trophy, called 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, Sri Lanka faced New Zealand in the quarter-finals and managed to beat it, thus entering the semi-finals. However, as it lost the next match against South Africa, the team was out of the series.
2000 - Kenya
Squad: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena, Avishka Gunawardene, Mahela Jayawardene, R.Kaluwitharana (wicket keeper), Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Eric Upashantha, Chaminda Vaas, P.Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Zoysa.
Performance: Sri Lanka competed in the pre-quarter-finals, and beat West Indies in the same, to become a part of the 2000 Champions Trophy. In the quarter-finals, it lost to Pakistan and with this; the team was out of the tournament and had to go back empty-handed.
2002 - Sri Lanka
Squad: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Upul Chandana, Kumar Sangakkara, Kumar Dharmasena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Hasantha Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pulasthi Gunaratne.
Performance: 2002 ICC Champions Trophy had Sri Lanka playing the first match against Pakistan and the second against Netherlands. It won both of them and thus, reserved a place in the semi-finals. There, it registered a win against Australia and played the final with India. The final was washed out by rain twice and team was declared as the co-champion, with India sharing the win.
2004 - England
Squad: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Saman Jayantha, Avishka Gunawardene, Upul Chandana, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.
Performance: In 2004, Sri Lanka won its first match of the ICC Champions Trophy, against Zimbabwe. It played the next match against England and ended up losing the same. With this, England qualified for the semi-finals, while Sri Lanka had its tour come to an end.
2006 - India
Squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Malinga Bandara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ruchira Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Chaminda Vaas.
Performance: In the 2006 Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka won three matches in the qualifying round, against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and West Indies. In the main round, it lost the first match to Pakistan, won the second against New Zealand and lost the third one to South Africa. As a result, it could not go to semi-finals and was out of the championship.
2009 - South Africa
Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dammika Prasad, Thilan Samaraweera, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Thushara.
Performance: In the last Champions Trophy (2009), Sri Lanka won first match against host Africa but lost last two matches against New Zealand and England and the team was out of the tournament and had to go back empty-handed.
