India's road to the final

Jun 21, 2013

Despite holding the No. 1 ODI ranking, India entered the tournament with doubts over their bowling stocks, and how cohesively the new-look team would work. Senior players like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan made way for the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik and Umesh Yadav. India started promisingly in the tournament opener against South Africa, with their newly formed opening pair of Dhawan and Rohit Sharma putting on 127•Associated Press

In their next match, they put West Indies in to bat, and while the top order handled the Indian seamers without difficulty, Ravindra Jadeja's guile proved to be their undoing. He picked up 5 for 36 in his ten overs to restrict West Indies to 233•Associated Press

The openers once again got India off to a solid start, putting on 58 for the first wicket. Dhawan once again top-scored with 48, as India completed their victory with eight wickets to spare in the rain-affected match •ICC/Matthew Lewis

Dhawan top scored with 68, and Virat Kohli was able to chime in with an unbeaten 58 to give India an eight-wicket victory with 15 overs to spare•ICC/Getty

After his magical Mohali performance on Test debut, Dhawan continued his good form, scoring 114 to help lay the framework for a big score. India eventually reached 331 and beat South Africa by 26 runs•ICC/Christopher Lee

Chasing a middling total, once again India's openers got them off to a fine start, with Dhawan going on to compile his second century in as many matches•Getty Images

India finished the group stage as the only undefeated team. They were very well-supported all through•ICC/Matthew Lewis

The biggest surprise in the semi was MS Dhoni, who traded his gloves for the ball and sent down four overs for 17•Associated Press

The two victories ensured India a spot in the semis, and so they could afford to cool their heels in their next encounter. However, that game was against Pakistan, which meant that even though the match was officially a dead rubber (as Pakistan were last in the table without a hope of advancing), there was added intrigue and relevance. Almost all of India's bowlers cashed in on a slow track when MS Dhoni asked Pakistan to bat. Pakistan were ultimately routed for 165•Getty Images

India faced familiar adversaries in Sri Lanka for the semi-final in Cardiff. India's seamers were on song against the Sri Lanka batsman; Ishant Sharma led the way with figures of 3 for 33, as Sri Lanka stumbled to 181•PA Photos

A standout feature of India's performance was their fielding. Unlike previously, when fielding was a very forgettable aspect of their game, at the Champions Trophy 2013 India were the sharpest fielding side courtesy their young bridage•AFP