Outplayed in all departments: Kohli
The ICC Champions Trophy has always been generous to participating teams. It has produced seven different winners in eight editions. Even perennial bridesmaids like South Africa and New Zealand won this trophy. On Sunday at The Oval it invited Pakistan into its long list of winners.
Pakistan's victory against India was as spectacular as their campaign in the tournament. After losing their opening game against India by 145 runs, they staged a remarkable turnaround, winning their next three games against Sri Lanka, South Africa and England, in the semifinal, quite convincingly.
They dominated the game from the word go and finished it in some style. When Hasan Ali had Jasprit Bumrah caught by his captain Sarfraz Ahmed in the 31st over with a nasty bouncer, there were not many Indian fans around at the ground to see the complete collapse of an imposing batting line-up. A few Pakistan fans stormed the ground to greet their cricketing heroes only to be neutralised by the bouncers on the ground.
India went into the final with seven straight wins against Pakistan.
“There is not one team that plays the game. You will have to accept the loss because the other team has outplayed you in every department of the game,” said the India captain after the final.
“Despite losing early wickets we were looking for a big partnership to set up the game nicely. The way Hardik [Pandey] was hitting we thought we can take the game deep. But he was run out in a terrible mix-up,” said Kohli, who scored five before becoming the second victim of a fired-up Mohammad Amir.
Asked if Pakistan's victory was a big moment for the region, he said: “I congratulated them in the post-match. I would do the same here because they deserved to win. They certainly played really good cricket, and they also needed victories like these as a team. You understand those dynamics as a team. Things are not happening and then you win a tournament like this.”
Although it was a chastening defeat for Kohli, it was something to savour for his Pakistan counterpart Sarfraz. The wicketkeeper-batsman made a statement even before he took questions from the press and appealed that this victory should open the gate for international teams to tour Pakistan in the future.
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