"India Was Nothing We...": Sarfaraz Ahmed's Blunt Take On Pakistan's Win Over Virat Kohli's Men In CT 2017
Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who secured the ICC Champions Trophy for his country in the 2017 edition, recalled how the Men in Green regrouped with the help of seniors after a shock start to their campaign eight years back and the message that was communicated to the group ahead of the high-profile final against arch-rivals India. Pakistan delivered India one of its biggest cricketing jolts when they defeated the Men in Blue in the title clash at The Oval in 2017 by a thumping margin of 180 runs while defending 339 runs. This was Pakistan's third major title in white-ball cricket, after the 50-over World Cup triumph in 1992 and the T20 World Cup win in 2009.
Unlike in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup or the Men's T20 World Cup, where India has a significant advantage over Pakistan, the Men in Green have a 3-2 advantage against the latter in the Champions Trophy.
However, their 2017 campaign got off to a shocking start when they lost to a strong India side by 124 runs. Rohit Sharma (91), Shikhar Dhawan (68), and Virat Kohli (81) starred with the willow before the bowling attack finished the job.
Sarfaraz recalled how the side regrouped under the guidance of senior players like Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez, something he feels that the present Pakistan side will need too.
"Afterwards (following defeat to India in the group stage), we had a great team meeting, and some of our senior guys - Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez - all said their piece. You need those types of characters around you. We changed our mindset from that day. The acrimony was very good for us, we made a couple of changes to the team and it helped our confidence," said the former captain as quoted by ICC.
Pakistan turned it around after the loss