Virat Kohli (L) and Sarfaraz Ahmed© AFP
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The Champions League 2017 final was a special occasion for Pakistan as the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side defeated India to clinch the title thanks to a brilliant knock from Fakhar Zaman and impressive bowling performances from Hasan Ali and Mohammad Amir. Zaman slammed a ton to take Pakistan to 338 and in response, India never looked comfortable as they were bundled out for 158. In a recent interaction on the Nadir Ali Podcast, Sarfaraz opened up about the victory and shared some interesting anecdotes.
“This is a memory (winning the Champions Trophy) which I can never forget. To win a final against India cannot be described in words. Had it been a normal match, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. We had won matches against India earlier as well, in ICC events, bilateral series – in fact, we have won more. But to win against such a team, which could chase down any total was incredible,” Sarfaraz said.
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“No runs were enough for them. India had MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, whereas we had two-toothed toddlers. We had kids, who today are taking Pakistan cricket to greater heights. Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan Faheem Ashraf, they were all young players. If you compare their team with ours, there was absolutely no comparison. We had only 2 experienced players in Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. The rest of the guys were so raw and new,” he added.
The former Pakistan skipper also spoke at length about the friendship between Indian and Pakistani cricketers in the past and also extended his support to Babar Azam during the interview.
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