Former manager of Pakistan cricket team Talat Ali has revealed Sarfraz Ahmed's men were fired up for Champions Trophy 2017 final after the then Indian television commentators Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar had written off the Men in Green's chances of winning.
Pakistan were clearly not the favourites against the then holders India in the big final, which was played in London on June 18. Sarfraz's men huffed and puffed into the final after getting thrashed by Virat Kohli & Co. in the tournament opener by a mammoth 124 runs.
Pakistan buckled up and went on to beat South Africa in a rain-affected Group B game. Chasing 220, Pakistan were 119 for 3 in 29 overs before the heavens opened up in Birmingham as the result went in the way of Sarfraz's men.
Luck favoured the Men in Green once again as Sri Lanka, in their final group game, kept dropping catches to gift their opposition a semi-final berth. Pakistan sent a warning signal when they decimated hosts and tournament favourites England in the semi-final by eight wickets.
Spirited show from Pakistan
Despite the positive results, it was widely perceived that Pakistan would find it difficult in the final against a rampant Indian side, which had remained unbeaten until the final. However, Sarfraz-led side came up with a strong show in the title match and humbled Kohli's men by 180 runs.
India were stunned by the spirited show from Pakistan, who posted 338 on the board after being sent into bat. India's chances were blown away as early as in the 17th over of the chase as they were reeling at 72 for 6 after losing big names, including Kohli and MS Dhoni cheaply.
While shedding light on how the veteran Indian commentators' opinions worked in favour of Pakistan, Ali also said he was unable to comprehend Kohli's decision of opting to field first in the high-pressure final.
'India wrote us off in the final. I was listening to the analysis of Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri and they gave us no chance. That fired up the boys. It was called a no-contest and we were written off. We said let the bat and ball do the talking," Ali told "Cricbuzz".
He added: "We had quite a bit of luck. Difficult to figure out why India put us in after winning the toss. With our strong bowling attack, once we put decent total on the board, it was going to be tough for India."
Ali also said he was in favour of resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan, who have witnessed strained cross-border relationships.
Notably, under the newly-proposed Test and ODI leagues, the two cricketing giants will be expected to play bilateral cricket.
"I am told that television channels rate India-Pakistan clash as the third biggest in the world. Football obviously takes the top spots. The coverage of that game in Pakistan was tremendous and I am sure that was the same case in India. I hope we play regularly so that the tension goes off. The more cricket we play, the better it will be. I hope the bilateral series resumes soon," Ali said.
