Shoaib Malik reminisces his funny conversation with Virat Kohli in the CT 2017 Final
2017 Champions Trophy won't be memorable for the Indian fans. However, we all do remember the Hardik Pandya story but what we don't remember is that spirit of cricket moment between the two teams, especially between Virat Kohli and Shoaib Malik. Although we do know what the talk was about (from the actions of Virat Kohli), the exact details or the whole details are still distant. Well, Champions Trophy 2017 Final don't hold a happy place in the minds of Indian cricket fans. The only highlights that the Indian cricket fans want to remember are Hardik Pandya taking it to the cleaners and the spirit of cricket moment between the Pakistani team and the Indian team while at the post-match presentation.
Nonetheless, finally, Shoaib Malik has spilled the beans on the incident that took place in post-match presentation ceremony of the 2017 CT Final. But before we go through the whole story, let us have a look at the context.
Context
The incident that Kohli and Malik were discussing was an excerpt from an ODI game between West Indies and Pakistan when Malik and his teammate Saeed Ajmal became a butt of all the jokes when they failed to hold on the catch of Chris Gayle. Both Saeed and Malik seemed ready to grab the skier. However, a miscommunication between them led to one of the funniest dropped catches in the history of cricket.
Shoaib Malik recently attended an episode of 'Voice of Cricket' where he narrated the whole incident that happened after the CT 2017 Final. He kicked off the conversation by talking about the CT 2017 Final. Consequently, the conversation built up to that particular incident where he along with a few other Pakistani cricketers was seen having a fun time with Kohli and Yuvraj at the presentation ceremony.
Virat Kohli asks Shoaib Malik: Catch to theek hai aap logon ke beech mein gir gaya, lekin Saeed Ajmal ne kya bola?
Malik then said that it was over the catch-dropping incident that all of them were laughing. He finally revealed that Kohli asked him about what Ajmal said after the comedy of error. "Virat yeh puch raha tha, catch to theek hai aap logon ke beech mein gir gaya. Lekin aapko Saeed Ajmal ne kya bola?," Malik reiterated Virat's statement from the CT 2017 post-match presentation ceremony.
Answering Kohli, Malik quoted Ajmal, "Catch to khair gir gaya us waqt. Woh tha bhi Chris Gayle ka catch. Aur woh hame peet bhi rahe the. Main usko kaha, ‘yaar! aapne joh yeh position banayi, ki mein catch karne laga hu, toh aap phir haath kyun peeche kar liye?" (It was the catch of Chris Gayle who was smashing the bowlers at that moment. I inquired Ajmal why did he even get into the catching position if he had to sneak away from at the crucial moment).
Reminiscing Ajmal's statement, Shoaib said, "Woh kheta hai, mein aapke neeche iss liye baitha hua tha ki agar aap se catch chhot jayi, toh mein use neech se pakad lu." (Ajmal said that he got into the position as a backup to me (Shoaib). If I fail to collect the catch, then he will grab the catch at the second attempt).
So, this how the whole lot of events unfolded, between Shoaib Malik and Virat Kohli, on the day of Champions Trophy 2017 Final.
Here is the video: