A history of the Champions Trophy in eight matches
A look at some of the games that summed up the themes the tournament has come to embody over the years
Andy Flower made 77 off 80 in the 1998 tournament opener • Getty Images
1998: A cracker in Bangladesh
So much about the tournament's uneven, thin history makes sense if we go back to the first match played in its name. Also, the name: it wasn't the Champions Trophy but the Wills International Cup, although Wisden gave it some gravitas by calling it the Mini World Cup.
2000: Out of Africa
If they had previously paid lip service to growth, this time the ICC seemed serious. Now called the ICC Knockout, not only was the tournament staged once again in cricket's developing world - Kenya - but both Bangladesh and Kenya were invited to play. That seemed to speak unequivocally of how the ICC expected this tournament to evolve.
2002: Two finals, many questions
Around this time, as it finally found the right name, the theme that has haunted the Champions Trophy since began to form: what was the point of it? And much of that bewilderment was encapsulated by the denouement of this edition. Somehow, an 18-day tournament featuring 12 teams, failed to produce a clear winner.
2004: Candy from babies
In less than three hours - which were embarrassing for pretty much everyone involved - the dream (or pretence, depending on whether you were a cynic or romantic) died. Until this game, expansion was a priority on the Champions Trophy agenda. The ICC kept the tournament bloated, with 12 teams; USA took the place of Netherlands, bringing into sharper focus the idea that the US was a market waiting to be broken into.
2006: What's the point?
The dream may have died, but the ICC was still rubbing its eyes awake. Instead of removing potential mismatches altogether, they just moved them to before the tournament
2009: The right stuff
Two and a half years had passed since the last global 50-over competition. In that time, the world had changed: the IPL was two editions young (preceded by the Indian Cricket League) and the ICC itself had squeezed in two World T20s. Meanwhile, ODIs were like: "Hey, Sri Lanka, this is India. Seven ODIs? 'KBye." The 50-over format was under serious threat and to save it came the Champions Trophy, itself terminally ill by now. Trust cricket to solemnly bring the existential angst.
2013: Cricket in a time of existential crisis
The ICC was so confident the Champions Trophy was dead that over a year before this tournament, they decided 2013 was the last one. In fact, this edition of the tournament wasn't even supposed to have happened - this, remember, was supposed to be a Test championship playoff. But this tournament had barely ended before administrators were considering one more after all.
2017: How to look a gift horse in the mouth
If you wanted a template for the dream ICC tournament - as drawn up by its leading members, ICC execs and broadcasters at least - this was it. A limited number of the best sides in the world duking it out. In a country with a diverse, cricket-beholden population, great stadiums, located in a friendly enough time zone for India to tune in. One that doesn't go on for too long or get in the way of anything else. An India-Pakistan game. And oh, an India-Pakistan final please, thank you.
Osman Samiuddin is a senior editor at ESPNcricinfo