ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Teams confirmed eight team

Bangladesh will make their return to the group stages of the tournament after an absence of almost a decade. Their last appearance in a Champions Trophy game came in India where they failed to get past the qualifying round after losing to both Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Since the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, the Bangladeshis have proven themselves to be a very well balanced side. They put together some incredible performances throughout the course of the year, bagging ODI series victories against Pakistan, India and South Africa! What an amazing year it has been so far for the Bengalis! Their stunning 2015 form resulted in them leap frogging the ODI rankings from 9th  to 7th place, guaranteeing them a place in the Champions Trophy 2017 group stages.
England and Wales will be the venue for the Champions Trophy which will be contested from 1 June 2017 to 18 June 2017. Bangladesh’s qualification in this term means they replace the West Indies who failed to finish in the top 8 of the ICC ODI rankings as of 30 September 2015.

The 8 confirmed teams for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017

Indians celebrating their 2013 triumph

The 8 confirmed teams for the Champions Trophy are World Champions Australia, defending champions India, former champions South Africa, former Champions New Zealand, former champions Sri Lanka, hosts England, Bangladesh and Pakistan. When it comes to the tournament format, the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will feature a total of 15 One Day Internationals. The Round Robin stage will have two groups of 4 teams. The top two teams from each group will go on and play in the semi finals. The confirmed groups and schedule shall be announced in due time.

Important announcement for the 2017 World Cup

Now that the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 sides are confirmed, the next vital announcement will be made on September 30. This date will showcase the announcement of the direct qualification of the top 8 ODI teams for the ICC World Cup 2019. The date will also feature announcements for the 2 remaining spots of the 2019 World Cup. The 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th placed teams will be joined by teams from ICC World Cricket League Champions and ICC World Cricket League Division 2. This group of teams will take part in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier which is scheduled to take place in 2018.
India are second ranked in the ICC ODI rankings, but they find 9th places West Indies just 27 points behind them. This is an quite an extraordinary stat. With such a little margin between 2nd and 9th placed teams, all matches to be played before 30 September would have massive significance.

The history of the ICC Champions Trophy:

The Champions Trophy of Cricket is the second biggest Cricket tournament. It was launched in the year 1998 as “ICC Knock Out Tournament”, but the name was changed to “ICC Champions Trophy” before the 2002 edition. The tournament is played approximately every 2 years. Since the 2009 edition, the top 8 ranked ODI teams are to take part in the competition. In 2013, much to the disappointment of cricketing fans all across the globe, it was announced that the 2013 edition of the Champions Trophy would be the last. It was also announced that the competition would be dissolved and replaced by an all new “ICC World Test Championship”. The decision was however taken back in January 2014, with the newly proposed Test Championship declared “canceled”.

Champions Trophy victories:

1. India
Winners: 2002,2013
Runners up: 2000
2. Australia
Winners: 2006,2009
3. West Indies
Winners: 2004
Runners up: 1998,2006
4. New Zealand:
Winners: 2000
Runners Up: 2009
5. Sri Lanka
Winners: 2002
6. South Africa
Winners: 1998

2 most surprising facts about the Champions Trophy:

1) Former ODI and T20 World Cup winners Pakistan have never even managed to reach the final of the Champions trophy, leave alone winning it.
2) England have reached the final of the Champions Trophy 2 times, winning not even once!