Pakistan’s Turnaround Has Been Magnificent, Says Virat Kohli

Jun 16, 2017 at 3:11 PM

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Pakistan’s Turnaround Has Been Magnificent, Says Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli expressed great happiness after witnessing the remarkable turnaround staged by Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2017. India’s arch-rival had a rough start to the tournament after inflicting a 124 runs loss at Edgbaston barely a couple of weeks ago, But, they quickly got their act together and overcame stiff challenges to become the finalists.

“I’ve been very impressed,” said Kohli. “The turnaround has been magnificent. Obviously, if you reach the finals you have to play some good cricket, and credit to them (Pakistan), they’ve turned things around for themselves really well.”

The loss against India put the sword on Pakistan’s head. The tension of an early exit began looming over the team. Coach Mickey Arthur also came hard at his men and labelled the performance as “shambolic.”

But, Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men did the unexpected and trounced Sri Lanka, South Africa in the group stages before taking the undefeated tournament favourites England to set up a summit clash.

“They’ve beaten sides that looked really strong against them, but the belief they showed on the field, the way they played together as a team…You know, regardless of who you play in the finals, it’s always going to be challenging because once you start thinking that it’s a big game, then your mindset changes,” the star batsman added.

Kohli also stated that his team would like to perform in the same fashion it had been doing in the last couple of games. He also confirmed that India might nit opt to changes its side.

“What we are going to try to do is repeat the similar sort of cricket that we have played so far, knowing the strengths and weaknesses they (Pakistan) have.”

“I don’t know there’s much that we need to change as a team,” said Kohli, a member of the India side that beat England in the 2013 Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston.

“I think if we focus on our skills and our abilities and believe in ourselves, we’ll give ourselves a chance to do some good things for the team.”

India reached the final after a stellar show against Bangladesh in the 1st semi-final which they won comfortably by 9 wickets. After being set a target of 265 runs, Rohit Sharma (123) registered a century while Shikhar Dhawan (46) was yet again at his best. Skipper Virat Kohli, too, also warmed up nicely with a knock of 96 off just 78 balls. Together these three men wiped off the target in just 40.1 overs.

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