Fakhar Zaman Reveals Indian Players’ Sledges Towards Him In Champions Trophy Final
Jul 9, 2017 at 2:16 PM
Pakistan’s Champions Trophy-hero Fakhar Zaman has revealed the sledge aimed at him by the Indian players during the final of the tournament last month. The left-handed batsman had scored his maiden One-Day International century in the final, slamming 114 off just 106 balls to power Pakistan to a huge 338 for 4 in the allotted 50 overs. His century paved the way for Pakistan’s historic win as the Men in Green thrashed their counterparts in Blue by a whopping margin of 180 runs to lay their hands on the Champions Trophy for the very first time.
And while Fakhar was making life difficult for the Indian bowlers with his brilliant stroke-play, the Indian players led by skipper Virat Kohli made sure to give the Pakistani opener a tough time on the ground. The 27-year old Pakistani batsman said Kohli was constantly taking an aim at Pakistan’s fragile batting line-up to get under the skin of the Pakistan openers.
The batsman also said that Jasprit Bumrah too took an aim at him. Fakhar had edged a Bumrah delivery to MS Dhoni behind the stumps when he was batting on just 3 but got a reprieve when replays showed the bowler had overstepped.
“There was a lot of chatter when Azhar Ali and I were at the crease. Virat was constantly saying, ‘Arre, ek wicket nikal jayega toh yeh saare out ho jaayenge.. Bas ek ko nikaalo jaldi’ (If we get one wicket, the rest will collapse). Bumrah had me caught behind, but it was off a no ball. So, he was also very vocal,” Fakhar was quoted as saying by First Post.
“On one occasion, he said, ‘Thoda saamne bhi run banaa le. Kab tak aise khelega?(Make some runs in front of the wicket’. How long are you going to play like this?),” he added.
However, Fakhar concluded by saying that none of the Indian players crossed the line while sledging which according to him was cricket-related and positive.
“But to be honest, the Indian players didn’t cross any line. Actually, that was purely cricket-related and positive sledging, which is fine. Everyone wants to see his team win and they do their best to achieve that,” said the southpaw.