Pakistan's road to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017

“Cricket is a game of uncertainty” they say, and this was absolutely proved to be perfect statement in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 when Pakistan lifted the trophy at the Oval by beating the arch-rivals India in the finals. “Pakistan cricket at its best, one minute down, next minute up” were the words on-air from the English commentator Nasser Hussain when Virat Kohli was caught at back-foot point after being put down at first slip the previous ball.

Delighted Pakistani players posing for camera with the trophy.

However, it wasn’t such a simple journey for Pakistan as no one would have ever anticipated this just before three weeks when the tournament kick started. They were embarrassed by a 124-run defeat by India in their tournament opener. Many wrote Pakistan off and they were facing a lot of criticism.

Pakistan met South Africa later, where they kept their hopes alive by beating them with the help of a little bit of efforts and a little bit of luck as the result was decided by the DL-Method. Pakistan won that match by 19 runs. Hasan Ali was brilliant with the ball as he took 3 wickets for just 24 runs from 8 overs.

They had got a little scared when they were set a target of 237 by Sri Lanka as they were 6 down for 137. But their captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed held his nerves and made sure that his side cross the line; he was ably supported by the tail enders. Earlier, once again Hasan Ali was proved to be too hot to handle. Ali and Junaid Khan both bagged 3 wickets apiece, whereas Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Amir too chipped in with 2 wickets each. This win gave the confidence to them, and they had got the momentum going forward.

Pakistan were playing England in the Semi-Final at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Pakistan first bowled out England for a paltry 211. Hasan Ali again worked havoc in the English middle order by getting Morgan and Stokes as two prized scalps. He got a total of 3 wickets and did his job. Later on, their batsmen did their job fantastically well and chased down the modest total of 211 with a loss of just 2 wickets and 77 balls to spare. Azhar Ali top scored with 76, supported by Fakhar Zaman who scored 57.

Pakistan’s biggest test was to be in the Finals. They were against their arch-rivals India. They didn’t had a good record against India in the big tournaments. It was the biggest game of their lives for those who had been a part of that Pakistan playing XI. India on the other end were coming into this Final on the back of some fantastic performances throughout the tournament barring an uncharacteristic defeat against Sri Lanka in group stage.

Virat Kohli called it right at the toss and chose to bowl first. The decision thought to be a bit out of equation as it looked a good surface to bat on. Kohli may have thought to put Pakistan under pressure by taking the early wickets, anyway Pakistan were under pressure already like they do in every game against arch-rivals India.

It was perhaps the biggest moment in the game when Fakhar Zaman was caught behind off a no-ball. He got a life and he never looked back and went on to score a fantastic century. Other Pakistani batsmen also chipped in and took Pakistan to more than respectable total of 338 from their 50 overs.

Fakhar Zaman Celebrating his brilliant century.

India were known to chase such targets with ease with some of the game’s greatest run-chasers in the team. But they got the worst possible start when Mohammad Amir bowled a beautiful in-swinger to Rohit Sharma who was plumb LBW. He didn’t troubled the scorers as he was gone for duck on just the third ball of the innings. Virat Kohli walked in and that was the golden wicket that Pakistan wanted. Virat Kohli was known for playing big innings during run-chases.

Rohit and Virat both were perished to Amir in his successive overs on the individual scores of 0 & 5 respectively.

Virat Kohli was lucky when in 3^rd over of the innings he was put down at slip by Azhar Ali. He was not so lucky second time when he played a flick shot and got a leading edge which flew towards back-foot point and was pouched comfortably by Shadab Khan. Pakistan’s coach Micky Arthur was delighted in the dressing room, as he knew that they have got 70% match in their bag with just these two big wickets. Indian middle order collapsed dramatically, and they were bowled out for a mere 158 handing Pakistan a 180-run victory. Hardik Pandya shown some lone fight just to reduce the margin of defeat. India deprived winning yet another ICC tournament. Whereas, Pakistan went on to win their 3^rd ICC trophy in history with the previous two being 1992 World Cup and 2009 T20 World Cup.

Pakistan players with the ICC Champions Trophy 2017

So it was a story of so near yet so far for India in another ICC tournament. Pakistan on the other end were gradually improved moving forward in the tournament. Their only loss came against India in their tournament opener. This shows how well Pakistan brushed aside all the criticism and emerged victorious. There were a lot of factors helpful for Pakistan to win this tournament, some of them were those which they never carry while playing in any ICC tournament in recent times, especially against India. They had faith, they had courage, they had self-belief, and what not. So when all those factors come together, they make it possible for any team to win any global tournament. Pakistan did the same and became the champions at the Oval on June 18^th, 2017.

 

Thanks

Rahul