Batting averages in the Champions Trophy: The Champions Trophy was introduced in 1998. It was called the mini World Cup back then. South Africa was the runaway winner in the first edition in 1998. The tournament though picked up great interest since the 2000 edition. Every edition of the tournament since then has been played in different venues across the world. Batsmen too have adapted largely to changing conditions. There have been a select few batters who have excelled specifically in this tournament.

We look at the top 5 highest batting averages in the Champions Trophy:

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[Qualification – 500 runs]

#5 Chris Gayle Batting Average in Champions Trophy – 52.73

He was one of the premier players in the tournament. Chris Gayle had quite a fancy for the Champions Trophy. He played his first CT in 2002 in Sri Lanka. Gayle played his last CT back in 2013. He has a lot of CT batting records to his name. Gayle was part of the Windies side who had a dream run in two successive editions.

The Windies won in 2004 while they were the runners-up in 2006. Chris Gayle scored 791 runs in 17 games at an average of 52.73. He scored 3 centuries and 1 half-century in the tournament.

#4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul Batting Average in Champions Trophy– 53.36

It was mainly the nature of success for the West Indies in the Champions Trophy that two of their elite batsmen feature on this list. Nobody had given them a chance to win the trophy back in 2004. But West Indies beat all odds to emerge champions in England. They defeated the home team in the finals.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul played a huge part in the finals too scoring important runs. The southpaw smashed 587 runs in 16 games at an average of 53.36. He scored five fifties in the tournament. 

#3 Sourav Ganguly Batting Average in Champions Trophy – 73.88

The 2000 Champions Trophy edition solely belonged to Sourav Ganguly. He batted on a different plane altogether in that tournament. Ganguly started the tournament with a century against Kenya. He scored another hundred in the semifinal against South Africa.

Ganguly repeated his heroics in the final against New Zealand. All his 3 centuries in the tournament came in that single edition. He played four editions from 1998-2004 scoring 665 runs in 13 games at an average of 73.88.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan Batting Average in Champions Trophy – 77.88

At the number two spot is another Indian southpaw, Shikhar Dhawan. He made his ODI comeback in the Champions Trophy 2013. Dhawan scored a fine century against South Africa setting up a tremendous tournament for the side. He followed it up with another dazzling century against the West Indies.

Dhawan scored his third century in the 2017 edition. He is always known to bring his A game in an ICC ODI tournament. The CT was Dhawan’s favourite tournament wherein he scored 701 runs in just 10 games at an outstanding average of 77.88. Dhawan was also conferred with the golden bat award in CT 2013.

#1 Virat Kohli Batting Average in Champions Trophy – 88.16

He along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the only other player on this list who didn’t score a single century in CT. Virat Kohli made a match-winning contribution in India’s only win in CT 2009. He made a decisive contribution in the semis and the finals of CT 2013 helping India lift the trophy. He had a fine CT 2017 with the final being the only exception. Kohli has scored 529 runs in 13 games at a brilliant average of 88.16.