It’s hard to comprehend how Pakistan has played just one international series – against Zimbabwe in 2015 – at home since 2009, when terrorists attacked the touring Sri Lankans in Lahore.
They have become cricketing nomads, often based in Dubai, which does nothing for the married members of the side as they live out of suitcases on the road.
So it came as a major shock when Pakistan, having lost their opening game to India by 124 runs, then beat South Africa by 19, and Sri Lanka by three wickets to qualify for the Champions Trophy semis.
There they smacked unbeaten England by eight wickets, and last night turned their Cinderella run into reality by crushing the white hot favourites in the final at The Oval by a record 180 runs.
The win defied the odds, the pundits, and the commentators.
Pakistan batted first to post the tournament’s highest score of 4-338 off their 50 overs.
Fakhar Zaman showed the way with a brilliant 114 off just 106 that included 12 boundaries and three maximums. His opening stand with Azhar Ali of 128 set the scene and the pace for Pakistan to launch into the strong Indian attack.
Mohammad Hafeez’s unbeaten 57 and Babar Azam’s 46 combined for that extraordinary total. What a time to post a tournament high.
As high as it was, the Indian batting lineup was quite capable of reaching it, until Mohammad Amir took the new ball.
Five overs later, India were blasted out of contention with massive run-getters Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and skipper Virat Kohli all back in the shed at 3-33, with Amir claiming 3-16.
To put those three vital dismissals in perspective, Kohli averaged 129 for the tournament, Sharma 76, and Dhawan 67 – yet they could only manage 26 between them last night.
In fact, India’s surprisingly low 158 was only reached thanks to 23-year-old Hardik Pandya, playing in just in his 12th international, who smashed 76 off 43 batting at seven with four fours and six huge sixes.
In the washup, Zaman’s 114 won him the man of the match award, although there were many good reasons why Amir’s 3-16 could have been chosen.
But it was Pakistan’s tournament even though they were never in the mix to even reach the semis.
Pre-tournament, it was England and Australia in from the first group and India with South Africa in the second. But Australia, hurt by two successive no results due to persistent rain, and South Africa were beaten off by Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively.
Now the beaming Pakistanis can return home to their cricket starved faithful with the coveted Champions Trophy held high, wearing their very smart white winner’s blazers.
For mine, the best part of the tournament was the way both India and Pakistan mixed freely after the final, and Viral Kohli being very gracious in defeat, highly praising the Pakistanis.
It’s a pity their politicians can’t be as open.
Ian
Guest
Micky Arthur must be smiling. Can't be that bad a coach after all...
GJ
Guest
As for Virat Kohli, there appears to be a large section of his country who believe he should be in goal and face a lifelong ban from playing cricket for match fixing .. go figure
Savage
Roar Rookie
as far as kohli ,he is a very fine batsmen arguably best odi batsmen of his generation but still has a long way to go to reach at level of sir viv,sachin and ponting in odi cricket
Savage
Roar Rookie
i would'nt call it choke.to be honest,india were never good enough to win this tournament.they always play defensive cricket(since wc 2015).you can see it with their selection(playing 8 or 9 batsmen instead of 5 genuine bowler),field placement or their bowling(trying to restrict runs instead of picking wickets unlike pakistan).as simon hughes(analyst) said before they are'nt "adventourous" to win the tournament(unlike pakistan and england) and i completely agree with him.also they were in the finals cause they were in weak group B.
GJ
Guest
Seems to me that Virat Kohli choked when the game was up for grabs .. perhaps India are on the way to becoming the new South Africa in this format
Stuckbetweenindopak
Roar Rookie
Yes yes yes yes yes yes
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Congrats to Pakistan for a well-deserved win and for lifting the Champions Trophy Apart from Pandya with the bat and Bhuvneshwar with the ball, other nine players from India were lethargic. So many no-balls and wides. India bowled 3 no-balls and 13 wides (in all 16). Pakistan bowled only one wide. Bumrah bowled 3 no-balls and 5 wides. He lost his way. At international level you can’t be that careless. India could have taken their first wicket in the 4th over when Pak was 7 and Fakhar 3. But it was a no-ball from Bumrah, so ruled not out. Fakhar went on to make 114 and was the worthy man of the match. The only Indian to bat well, Pandya, was run-out. Jadeja could have sacrificed his wicket because with Pandya (76 runs with four fours and six sixes) in the middle there was a chance of India putting up a better show.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Great win by the enigmatic ones. What a smashing.
spruce moose
Guest
Ok. Well, what better place to mix freely than in the country that caused the friction to begin with. Haha
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Pakistan have certainly got the talent in that team, a number of match-winning players. I was saying before the match that India would probably go in as huge favourites, but you just can never rule out Pakistan as, while they can be unpredictable, they always seem to have players with the talent to pull off anything. Bang, bang, bang from Amir and the match is all but over. Good to see Pakistan get this win.
Cassia
Guest
Awesome result. What a win. Congratulations Pakistan!
ViratKohli
Roar Rookie
Someone was commenting why I bring Australia into the conversation.
Free 2 Fly
Guest
Spruce, it refers to the historic animosity between India and Pakistan, and particularly their politicians who for appearance purposes largely use inflammatory rhetoric when referring to the other party.
ViratKohli
Roar Rookie
Sad to see no mention of the captain - he was under pressure after the India game and since then he has been inspirational.
ViratKohli
Roar Rookie
please explain David - didnt see any relevance of such a statement
SaKiwiRoo
Guest
Spot on! No one seems to be giving him the credit he deserves for instilling better structure and belief in this talented team. Good on him. a fine gentleman and and sportsman, yet jettisoned so appallingly by Australia after politics saw him off from his own homeland. Karma indeed!
Ouch
Guest
Awesome result. Stoked for Pakistan.
chump
Guest
Australia would have had a better chance if we gave Glen Maxwell more of a run.
spruce moose
Guest
"It’s a pity their politicians can’t be as open." Please explain?
nickbrisbane
Guest
Mickey Arthur will be feeling good