Not many had expected Pakistan to beat India in the final of the Champions Trophy 2017, and that too, when India had beaten them hands down in the group stages. Pakistan went on to score 338 in the final, while India could only score 158, and lost the match rather easily.
IND vs PAK Champions Trophy
Now, Pakistan’s then skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed has opened up on how the team went on to spring a surprise and how they were confident of scripting history. “We played England in the semi-finals and our bowlers were just superb. Then, it was India in the final. I was just confident our level was very high and my message to the players ahead of the final was to relax. We knew we had beaten some of the best teams, so India was nothing we had not seen.
Pakistan Beat India in CT 2017 Final
“The rest is history. When the last wicket went down and we won, it is impossible to describe that feeling in words. When I took the last catch, I was at gully. And I just ran. I saw Shoaib Malik and ran into his arms, I jumped into him and hugged him. The whole team then joined in. It was indescribable,” Ahmed told the ICC website.
Ahmed also spoke about how their mindset changed following the 124-run defeat in the Birmingham. “Afterwards, 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,” Ahmed said further.
