ICC Champions Trophy 2017: India played like favourites while Pakistan's effort was limp, says Shahid Afridi
What's the story?
The opening game for India and Pakistan in Champions Trophy 2017 raised and also destroyed uncountable hopes. In what turned out to be a one-sided match, India secured an easy 124-run victory over their Asian neighbours.
Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistani skipper, commented upon the performance of both the teams in his column for ICC. He expressed his disappointment in light of Pakistan’s performance.
“The Indo-Pak Champions Trophy encounter failed to live up to its hype as Pakistan produced a forgettable performance at Edgbaston. As a Pakistani supporter, the drab show was a painful watch indeed as India once again proved that it has a stranglehold over its neighbour that it is in no mood to relinquish,” Afridi wrote.
He also heaped praise on the Indian team for living up to their “favourites” tag and dominating the match. “India started as the favourite and played the entire game in the same frame of mind, even as Pakistan crumbled limply.”
In case you didn't know...
One of the most anticipated matches in the Champions Trophy, the high voltage drama turned out to be a slow and unexciting game which was easily won by the Indian team despite the rain interruptions.
Also read: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Shoaib Akhtar slams Sarfraz Ahmed's 'poor captaincy' against India
India scored 319 and Pakistan’s target was corrected to 289 runs in 41 overs after the D/L calculations were applied. However, the entire Pakistan team crumbled for a total of 164.
The heart of the matter
Afridi, in his analysis of the match, said that Sarfraz Ahmed had the advantage when he opted to bowl first but a poor game plan and even poorer execution alongside crummy fielding neutralised that completely.
He also pointed out that the move to give the new ball to Imad Wasim after the splendid maiden over bowled by Amir was a huge mistake, adding that deploying faster bowlers in the next few overs would have had a more significant impact.
Afridi also dedicated a section of his column to Pakistan’s horrific fielding effort. Pointing out the unsatisfactory fielding attempts and several dropped catches, he rebuked the Pakistan team for giving away easy runs to the Indian team.
What's next?
After having defeated Pakistan, India top the table in Group B. Their next match will be against Sri Lanka on 8th June. Pakistan, on the other hand, will have to face South Africa on the 7th in a must-win encounter.
Author's Take
Afridi was spot on in his analysis. The tactic to use Imad Wasim as a new ball bowler was quite surprising considering the fact that the Indian batsmen are brilliant players of spin. The encounter did fail to live up to its hype as well as many fans were expecting a close game that could be decided by a single run or wicket. Pakistan need to really pull their socks up and do some serious thinking ahead of their next game or they could find themselves out of the competition in no time.