New Delhi: Pakistan had won the Champions Trophy 2017 against India by a historic 180 runs. After this victory, the then captain Sarfaraz Ahmed became a hero overnight. However, six years later, Pakistan cricket has changed a lot. Sarfaraz is no longer the captain and had to struggle to get back into the Test team.
Had it been a normal match, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal
Sarfaraz now shares his experiences from the 2017 Champions Trophy. Sarfaraz says that this is the most memorable moment of his career. Sarfaraz said on The Nadir Ali Podcast – Winning the Champions Trophy is such a memory, which I can never forget. The victory in the final against India cannot be described in words. If it was a normal match, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. We won in the final. We have won more against India in the past in ICC events, bilateral series, but the Champions Trophy final is special.
The milk teeth of our people were yet to break
Sarfaraz further said – no score was enough for him. India had MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, while we had players whose milk teeth were yet to erupt. We had children who are today taking Pakistan cricket to new heights.
there was no comparison
Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan Faheem Ashraf were all young players. If you compare their team with our team, there was no comparison. We had only 2 experienced players in Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. The rest were raw and new. He further said- When I played my first match as a captain, I was under a lot of pressure. I didn’t know the result. Playing as a player is different. So when we reached the final, I just said to the players in the huddle – look friends, the kind of cricket we have played, such a comeback will rarely be seen in the history of Pakistan cricket. Pakistan’s journey till the final of the Champions Trophy was full of ups and downs. Pakistan’s team somehow reached the final.
