LONDON: Skipper Sarfaraz Ahmad and his charges are aiming to change history when Pakistan take on archrivals India, who are also the defending champions, in the high-octane final of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Oval here on Sunday (today). One of the most unpredictable sides in world sport, Pakistan were the lowest-ranked side going into the eight-nation tournament and produced a shambolic performance in their heavy defeat by India in the opener. As they have done many times before, however, Pakistan suddenly found their form with wins over top-ranked South Africa and Sri Lanka before delivering an outstanding all-round display to stun previously unbeaten hosts England in the semi-finals.
The neighbouring countries have moved on from years of political conflicts but emotions will run high as millions of supporters around the world watch the first major cricket final between the teams since the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup. India are favourites to retain the Champions Trophy on Sunday but they would probably have preferred to face different opponents than arch-rivals Pakistan in what is sure to be a highly-charged final. But few would dispute that India-Pakistan is now the world game’s premier contest – certainly not the ICC who, by their own admission, now fix the draw at their events to ensure the Asian giants meet in the group phase. Some estimates suggest Sunday’s match between the sub-continental cricket giants at the Oval in south London could attract a worldwide television audience of more than a billion viewers.
“We’ve got nothing to lose – the pressure is more on India,” Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood told reporters at the Oval on Saturday. “But I can tell you one thing – we have come to win,” the former all-rounder, who spent several seasons with Oval-based Surrey, added ahead of Pakistan’s first match of the tournament at the ground. “History can change, and I hope we can (change it).” Meanwhile, Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir will play in the Champions Trophy final against arch-rivals India, coach Mickey Arthur said Saturday. “He’s fit to play, and he will play.” The 25-year-old left-armer missed Pakistan’s shock eight-wicket semi-final win over tournament hosts England in Cardiff on Wednesday with a back spasm.
Arthur is confident his side’s group-stage ‘aberration’ against the title-holders will have no bearing when they face their arch-rivals again. Now, with Amir returning to the side, Arthur believes there will be no repeat of their woeful pool showing against India when the latest edition of world cricket’s most high-profile contest takes place in London. “The India game was an aberration,” Arthur said. “What we’ve produced after that doesn’t come as any surprise, because that’s how we trained, and that’s what we worked at. It was very disappointing to see that go wrong in the Indian game, but… We’ve closed the chapter on that. That was an aberration. We’re now moving forward.” Amir’s return bolsters an already impressive Pakistan pace attack featuring Hasan Ali, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. And Arthur believes that if Pakistan can strike with the new ball, they will have the chance to test an India middle order who have hardly been required to bat during this Champions Trophy. “Our strength has been the fact that we’ve been able to take wickets, and we’ve been able to take wickets consistently through the middle periods,” explained Arthur. “If we can get amongst them with the new ball, we can expose the middle order that hasn’t batted much in this competition – so that’s pretty much our aim and focus.”
The Oval pitch should be more favourable for batsmen but India, who have beaten Pakistan in eight of their 10 World Cup and Champions Trophy meetings, will not be complacent. India suffered a shock loss to Sri Lanka in the group stage before overwhelming Bangladesh in the semis and their captain Virat Kohli has been impressed by Pakistan’s resurgence. “The turnaround has been magnificent,” Kohli said on Saturday. “Obviously, if you reach the finals you have to play some good cricket and credit to them, they’ve turned around things for themselves really well. The belief just showed on the field the way they played together as a team and regardless of who you play in the finals, it’s always going to be challenging because once you start thinking that it’s a big game, then your mindset changes.”
India, who beat Pakistan by five runs in the Twenty20 final 10 years ago, have been lifted by the outstanding batting form of Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. “What we are going to try to do is repeat the similar sort of cricket that we have played so far, knowing the strengths and weaknesses they have,” Kohli said. “I don’t think we need to look too far away from what we are doing as a group, focus on our skills and our abilities and believe in ourselves on that particular day.” Yuvraj Singh, former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Hardik Pandya can also play match-winning knocks. India also have a well-balanced attack, with new-ball bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah supported by contrasting spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and left-armer Ravindra Jadeja, with the like of Kedar Jadhav, as he showed against Bangladesh, also able to chip in with useful wickets.