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THE ECB may have been deprived of their dream finish with England facing India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Oval in London but surely they had a match that ensured the grandstands were full while billions of people watched on screens around the world.
There can be no greater rivalry in international cricket – possibly any global sport – that can boast a higher desire to win, sometimes bordering on outright animosity, than when India meets Pakistan.
While there may be a few English and Australian cricketers who disagree, you would not find many of their supporters taking a holiday off work to watch a game on TV thousands of miles away.
Defeat in a single match would not see effigies being burned outside your home (thankfully)! Yet this is the level of interest – and pressure – that this great match-up generates.
In the last decade these two sides have only faced each other in One Day Internationals (ODIs) on 10 occasions with India the victors in seven. The most recent of those was their opening encounter of this ICC Champions Trophy, which the usually dominant nation won at a canter (124 runs).
Of course, in recent years Pakistan has been forced to play all games overseas while a formerly friendly sporting relationship, where cricket was used to build bridges between the two countries, has been hijacked by politicians with personal agendas.
Remarkably, the two sides had never met in the final of a 50-over competition before and so, after 14 matches, 6,583 runs and 175 wickets (not to mention the traditional English rain) it came down to one of the most eagerly-awaited finals in the history of cricket. Many countries came to a standstill.
India had looked imperious in reaching the final, topping Group B courtesy of surprisingly easy victories over Pakistan and South Africa while being surprised by Sri Lanka who won by seven wickets.
In the process their illustrious captain, Virat Kohli (he who adorns most advertising spaces throughout India), passed 8,000 ODI runs (becoming the fastest to reach that milestone) to be ranked the top batsman in this format of the game. Victories were owed as much to the bowlers who have pegged-back opposition at crucial moments with Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar particularly effective.
Meanwhile, Pakistan struggled through the group but found form against the host nation and pre-tournament favourites, England, pulverising them by eight wickets.
After the defeat to India, Pakistan’s coach, Mickey Arthur, made radical changes and gave three players their debuts over the last fortnight. Most significantly, he brought in Fakhar Zaman at the top of the order, who steadily improved as he gained confidence in the English wickets.
In the end it was this glorious newcomer who claimed the Man of the Match trophy for a stunning century (114 from 106 balls) although it could have been oh, so different.
At the start of his innings he was scratching around against India’s excellent new-ball pace attack who had a plan to tuck him up. Having played and missed, his first run came from an inside edge and then having scored three he edged behind. The reprieve came when the umpire confirmed that Bumrah had over-stepped to concede a no-ball.
Shortly afterwards he claimed four leg-byes after being struck on the helmet and then ran-out his partner. However, this was the precursor for the former naval trainee to launch an all-out assault on India’s revered spin kings.
It was not the only piece of luck to go to the eventual victors. An even more unusual event occurred when Bumrah, whose performance was as eccentric as his action, bowled an excellent Yorker at Mohammad Hafeez that saw the ball cannon into his off-stump. The bail jumped, only to land back in its groove. Not out!
On an excellent batting strip under a scorching Surrey sun, Pakistan’s total looked a little below-par. However, that did not account for an inspired opening spell from Mohammad Amir, the bowler seeking redemption after getting into a spot of bother a few miles down the road several years before.
Recovered from the back spasms that meant he missed the semi-final, Amir bowled the ball with venom as he charmed it into snaking both ways to removed Sharma in the first over.
While a great start it was not the one he really wanted. In the modern-day game teams identify the opposition talisman and then hunt him down. The one player whose fallen wicket demoralises the other team. Kohli.
And, there he has it, inducing Kohli to edge to slip. Only Azhar Ali drops the simplest of chances. Never mind. Next ball the captain loops an edge to point and he is on his way past Amir back to the pavilion.
His opening burst captured three wickets, a tally matched by the leading wicket taker in the tournament, Hasan Ali. Another noteworthy haul came from the teenage ‘leggie’, Shadab Khan, who bagged two, including the crucial wicket of Yuvraj Singh after a review that he insisted on.
With five wickets down, masses of south Asians (only those clad in blue) started to exit south London.
Bizarrely, while the two nations have not faced each other previously in a final at this level, several players did meet in the final of the U19 equivalent in Colombo in 2006.
Sarfraz Ahmed was the successful skipper again on that occasion, remarkably winning by 39 runs having only set a total of 111. Rohit Sharma and Ravi Jadeja must be sick of the sight of him!
Safraz joins Imran Khan (1992) as captain of a senior World Cup winning Pakistan team. He has managed to transform a group of old pros and young guns over the last two weeks through perseverance and inspiration.
And, they loved it in Lahore!
