The analysis from former players including Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri stirred up the Men in Green according to Talat Ali, the former Pakistan opener, who served as a team manager for his national side during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy, as the final was held on June 18.
“India wrote us off in the final. I was listening to the analysis of Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri and they gave us no chance. That fired up the boys,” Ali was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Before Pakistan lifted their maiden ICC Champions Trophy title at the Oval in London, the former Indian cricketers revealed Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue side is favourite for one of the major tournaments which was held in England and Wales.
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While playing a role in firing up the side, the incumbent head coach of Team India Shastri and former Test specialist Gavaskar stated India wouldn’t find it tough to thrash arch-rivals Pakistan, in a bid to defend the coveted titled they won under Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2013.
The 67-year-old Ali featured in 10 Tests for Pakistan revealed a discussion which took place during the team meeting was to prove the mettle after India was tagged as favourites in the final.
“It was called a no-contest and we were written off. We said let the bat and ball do the talking,” Ali maintained.
Moreover, the remarks from the former cricketers was equally supported by the statistics at the major events, but Sarfraz Ahmed-led side emerged as one of the best units – to ease past formidable India by 180 runs in the grand finale.
The clear favourites India was highly-likely going to expect the contest according to the cricket pundits, but Pakistan’s batting helped their bowlers to amass the total of 338 in 50 allotted overs which eventually became a physiological advantage for the decent bowling attack.
The Kennington Oval witnessed Men in Green bowlers picked wickets at regular intervals which saw left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir was the chief architect with the white-ball early on for Pakistan.
Moreover, Pakistan broke the jinx of not performing during major ICC-held fixtures against India.
The 25-year-old Amir broke the back of quality batting line-up; as he went on to claim the prized scalp of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and batting mainstay Virat Kohli in quick succession.
It’s pertinent to mention on June 4, India thrashed Pakistan convincingly, as Pakistan was no match for the Men in Blue bowlers.
Ali believes the regular fixtures in the international fold would ease escalating tensions between the neigbouring countries, as he echoed the words of current Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed for the resumption of cricketing ties.
“I hope we play regularly so that the tension goes off. The more cricket we play, the better it will be,” Ali concluded.
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The performance from Pakistan particularly their batters eventually took many by surprise which further saw left-handed Fakhar Zaman smashing his debut international hundred after Jasprit Bumrah handed the former a life owing to the much-talked overstepping early on.