As we head to the head to the business end of the tournament, that involves three former champions, a look at the players who flattered to deceive, faltering under the weight of expectations, hurting their respective teams.
India, along with the mighty Australia, will start as title contenders in the ICC Champions Trophy.
India's batting maestro Virat Kohli held on to the number two position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen released on Monday, while Rohit Sharma dropped a place to seventh.
AB de Villiers blasted a quickfire half-century to propel South Africa to a mammoth total against Afghanistan in the ICC World T20 Super 10 Group 2 match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Sunday. Images from the match.
The calm, assured manner in which New Zealand chased down South Africa's imposing total on Tuesday to advance to their first cricket World Cup final is a hallmark of a team that has developed into a cohesive unit over the last two years.
First, Axar smashed his way to an unbeaten 38 off 17 balls as Kings XI Punjab managed 138 for 7 and then grabbed 3/11 in in 3 overs with RCB skittled out for 119 in 19 overs.
South Africa made a sedate start to their second innings after conceding a 78-run first innings lead to a spirited Bangladesh on day three of the opening Test at Chittagong on Thursday.
South Africa's bowlers backed up a solid batting performance led by captain AB de Villiers' 99 to ensure they qualified for the knockout phase of the World Cup with a 146-run victory over United Arab Emirates.
Kagiso Rabada said South Africa are gunning for a whitewash of India, having trampled the visitors in the first two matches.
Indian rookie Karun Nair has joined the legendary opener Virender Sehwag to become only the second Indian batsman to score a triple century in Tests. Nair reached the milestone in 381 balls having moved from 200 to 300 in just 75 deliveries. Sehwag has two triple hundreds to his name, first scoring 309 against Pakistan in 2004 in Multan, while the second one was a brilliant 319 against the mighty South Africa in 2008 in Chennai.
New South African captain AB de Villiers said he is still motivated to perform in all forms of international cricket and hopes the responsibility of being appointed South Africa Test captain will improve his performances. But confirmed there was 'a bit of truth' in rumours he was considering retirement.
Here are the images of some of the shots that De Villiers played enroute his record-breaking fastest One-Day century.
The Indian opener tops the Champions Trophy MVP table. But Hasan Ali, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma aren't too far behind, note Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
With a record that was anything to be proud of, the only way India could have beaten the South Africans in the ongoing Test series was by using 'home advantage' to the optimum, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com.
Captain Virat Kohli's blazing blade ensured a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the one-off Twenty20 International as the visitors completed a 9-0 rout of Sri Lanka across all three formats, in Colombo, on Wednesday.
Faced with the prospect of a humiliating 0-3 series whitewash, a desperate India would be aiming to bounce back to winning ways against an unrelenting South Africa in the third and final Test, starting in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
The series loss to South Africa notwithstanding, India held on to their second spot in the team list, while star batsman Virat Kohli rose up a rung to second in the batsmen's table of the latest ICC ODI cricket rankings.
The third and final cricket One Day International between India and South Africa was abandoned after rains intervened at the innings break to leave the home side with a 2-0 series win in Centurion.
Pakistan side put its World Cup campaign back on track with an upset 29-run win via Duckworth/Lewis method over South Africa
Penpix of the South Africa squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa went through several anxious moments before their bowlers clinched a nail-biting six-run victory over minnows the Netherlands in their World Twenty20 match in Chittagong on Thursday.
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith said he is "nervous" about the Proteas' upcoming tour of India, starting with the first Test in Mohali on November 5.
'We should be open to looking at Ramdas Athavale's suggestion of reservations. India will not be unique if it chooses to do this, says Aakar Patel.
The 28-year-old Kohli scored 62 and six not out to move to 833 points, within 14 points of England's Joe Root in a list led by Australia captain Steve Smith.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji list the 50 Most Valuable Players in the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli will be facing the toughest battle of his nascent ODI captaincy career when defending champions India take on South Africa in a do-or-die match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in London, on Sunday.
Statistical highlights of the ICC Champions Trophy match between India and Sri Lanka, in London.
