India began their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 campaign with a phenomenal win over arch rivals Pakistan by 124 runs (D/L Method). Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and asked India to bat first. Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma began the proceedings for the Men in Blue. The two batsmen compiled a partnership of 136 runs for the first to grab their third hundred-run partnership in Champions Trophy. While Dhawan and Rohit notched up another 100-run partnership, Yuvraj Singh hammered the Pakistan bowlers to score 53 off 32 balls. He completed his half century in 29 balls. The left-handed batsman in the process became the first Indian player to take part in 14 ICC tournaments. Apart from this, Yuvraj also equaled the record set by Sachin Tendulkar of being a part of ICC Champions Trophy five times. Yuvraj made his debut for India back in 2000 in the same tournament while he was an integral part of the Indian team that lifted World T20 2007 and ICC World Cup 2011. Kohli's troops hit the correct notes to kick-start their Champions Trophy. While the openers gave India a perfect start, India skipper Virat held on to the innings from one end and chipped in with some crucial runs that pushed Pakistan on the back-foot. Yuvraj's aggressive knock provided India with much required momentum and Hardik Pandya's cameo in the last over guided them to a score of 319/3 in 48 overs in a rain-curtailed match. Pakistan were later handed a target of 289 runs in 41 overs but the Sarfraz Ahmed-side lost wickets on crucial stages to hand India a win in the end.
