Pakistan National team performance in the last Champions Trophy

There was a time when the Pakistan national cricket team was considered one of the strongest teams in the world. With legendary bowlers like Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, and Shoaib Akhtar in the squad, who could beat any batter with their sheer pace and bounce, they qualified for three back-to-back semi-finals of ICC events from 1979 before eventually becoming champions in 1992 under the captaincy of former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.

It was the last title that the Shaheens won in the 50-over tournament, and it’s been more than 32 years since Pakistan won an ICC World Cup. Although they came close several times, including in 1999 and 2011, by reaching the finals and semifinals, they failed to emerge as champions. However, talking about the current situation, the team is struggling even to qualify for the group stage in an ICC event. Through this article, we are going to talk about India’s arch-rival performance in the last ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

2017 Champions Trophy

It was the 8th edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, which was played in England. The last edition of this ICC event was won by the Indian team after defeating England in the finals by 5 runs under the captaincy of former Indian cricketer MS Dhoni.

After reaching back-to-back quarter-finals in the ICC World Cup in 2011 and 2015, the Pakistani team entered this tournament with the aim to win under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed. With a combination of young and experienced players like Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Abdullah Shafique in the squad, they managed to win their first ICC Champions Trophy by defeating the Indian team in the finals by a margin of 180 runs.

It was one of the best performances by the Pakistan team in recent times in an ICC event, where they reached the finals by winning 2 games out of 3 matches in the group stage. The only defeat they suffered was against the Indian team in match number 4 of the tournament, where they failed to chase a target of 320 runs and were all out for just 164 runs in front of a strong bowling attack from the Indian team.

Umesh Yadav was the leading wicket-taker for the Men in Blue, bagging 3 wickets, along with equal contributions from all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja with 2 wickets each. However, the credit for this win also goes to the Indian batters, who contributed equally to take the team to the winning line.

Despite losing to the Indian team in the opening game of the marquee event, the Pakistan team bounced back strongly in the tournament by winning 3 back-to-back games against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the home team England to reach the finals of the ICC Men’s 2017 Champions Trophy against India.

India and Pakistan finished the group stage after losing 1 game each, having 4 points on the table. Shikhar Dhawan was the leading run-scorer for the Indian team, while Fakhar Zaman was the highest scorer for the Pakistan national team. Not only were the Pakistan batters performing well, but they were also getting support from their bowlers Hasan Ali and Junaid Khan, who finished the tournament as the highest wicket-takers for the Pakistan team with 13 and 9 wickets, respectively.

India vs Pakistan, Finals

It was the second time these Asian teams were meeting in the marquee tournament, as in the previous encounter, the Indian team defeated their arch-rivals by 164 runs in the opening game with a strong batting performance. After falling to the Men in Blue, it was a must-win match for Pakistan to create history. Despite performing well throughout the tournament, Rohit Sharma and Co. were the favorites due to the dominance shown by the Indian batters, especially the openers, who were the leading run-scorers for the Indian team.

Irrespective of that, the Pakistan team defeated India in the finals by 180 runs, in a similar fashion to how the Men in Blue had defeated them in the last encounter by posting a huge target while batting first.

The Men in Green, batting first, posted a total of 338 runs in 50 overs with the help of Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali, who set the stage for their team by making a partnership of 128 runs for the opening wicket. Later, star batter Babar Azam and veteran cricketer Mohammed Hafeez took the innings forward by playing knocks of 46 and 57 runs, respectively, at the end of the innings.

India was required to chase 339 runs to win the match in the finals, which seemed like an achievable target given the brilliant performances by the Indian batters throughout the tournament. However, things didn’t go as expected, as the Men in Blue lost 5 wickets for just 54 runs against a strong pace attack from Mohammad Amir, who picked up 3 wickets in his 6-over spell. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja tried to take the game forward by forming a partnership of 80 runs, but couldn’t carry it further from 158 runs, resulting in India losing the match by 180 runs.

Heading into the next ICC Champions Trophy, which is to be hosted by them, the Pakistan national team will try to replicate their performance from the last edition