No shame in defeat, Virat defends India Fakhar rides life to boost Pakistan with maiden ton
NO FINAL FRONTIER THIS India crash to 180run defeat as Pakistan win their maiden Champions Trophy at The Oval
have shown the composure in pressure situations most often in this tournament, but that is no guarantee that you’re going to do it every time.
“Obviously your best effort is to try and do it every time, but cricket is not about doing well in every game that you play. You will have failures, and one team has to lose on the day, and today was our day to lose because the opposition played much better than us,” said a candid Kohli.
Kohli praised Pakistan’s opening duo that put on a match-winning 128-run stand.
The captain, leading India for the first time in the Champions Trophy, said Fakhar Zaman’s brilliant innings took India by surprise.
“Azhar is a very conventional cricketer, he plays shots that you can plan against, and you can still have bowling plans and so forth, but a guy like Zaman, when he gets going it becomes real difficult to stop them because I think 80 % of his shots were high-risk and they were all coming off,” said Kohli.
Kohli said the team will analyse this defeat.
The captain was worried that 25 extras were conceded and one of them, a no ball from Jasprit Bumrah, gave Fakhar Zaman the opportunity to smash a decisive century that left the defending champions befuddled.
Fakhar Zaman lashed the Indian bowling into submission as the rookie opener scored his maiden ODI hundred in the all-important Champions Trophy final against India at The Oval on Sunday. He was out for 114 in the 34th over after Pakistan crossed the 200-mark.
The left-handed Fakhar Zaman swept R Ashwin for his 12th four as he brought up his 100 off just 92 balls as Pakistan scored 183 for 1 in the 31st over. Fakhar also smashed two sixes, one each off Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. He celebrated his landmark innings by kissing the pitch, something most Pakistanis love to do.
The 27-year-old Fakhar, who
made his ODI debut in the Champions Trophy in the match against South Africa in Birmingham on June 7, has been in good form in the tournament. Two fifties in the Champions Trophy made Fakhar an automatic choice for the big final against India.
Jasprit Bumrah played a big hand in helping Fakhar collar the India attack with strokes all around the wicket. Bumrah had the opener caught at the wicket by MS Dhoni when on 3, but the pacer had clearly over-stepped and Fakhar was recalled by the umpires. The Pakistan batsman took full advantage of that piece of luck and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.
Initially, his innings was not very impressive. Streaky strokes that raced to the boundary helped him overcome the initial pressure but Fakhar rotated the strike with opener Azhar Ali to take the pressure off him after India asked Pakistan to bat on a fresh Oval wicket.
With the wicket playing easy and Indian bowlers unable to bowl the lines they had in the previous two games, Fakhar and Azhar Ali built a good partnership. Pakistan’s 50 came off 52 balls with both openers going almost neck and neck.
Fakhar featured in two good partnerships. He had Azhar Ali run out for 59 but the 128-run opening wicket stand gave India a rude shock.
“It’s players like Fakhar Zaman who are the future of Pakistan cricket. They have emerged from domestic cricket and the Pakistan Super League has made them fearless,” said Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Virat Kohli, however, was not very impressed. “Eighty per cent of his strokes are high-risk shots and it’s sheer good luck that things went his way,” said Kohli.
No batsman goes out there to throw his wicket, no bowler wants to give away runs. It was a bad day in office for us and we must accept this loss and move on. Obviously your best effort is to try and do it every time, but cricket is not about doing well in every game that you play. You will have failures, and one team has to lose. You little beauty @TheAmirOfficiaI reminded me of my days .... It feels like deja’vu after winning the 1992 World Cup. I am over the moon. Edged. Oh dropped! Not a man you want to drop... He’s gone the next ball. Not that important. Brilliant from Amir. Pakistan cricket at its best. One minute down, next minute up. Congrats Pakistan on winning the Champions Trophy. While they were a lot of brilliant performers, the way Sarfaraz captained impressed me the most.