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Updated July 17th, 2021 at 11:37 IST

Kamran Akmal explains why Pakistan's Champions Trophy 2017 win has less weightage

Former wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal has explained why Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy 2017 win does not hold much weightage

Reported by: Karthik Nair
Kamran Akmal, Champions Trophy 2017
Credits: KamranAkmal23/ Instagram/ICC/Twitter | Image:self
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Former wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal has said that Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy 2017 does not hold much significance. Giving further clarification on the same, Akmal said that the Men In Green had not achieved anything exceptional before or after the Champions Trophy triumph.

The veteran stumper's remarks came after Pakistan's recent 3-0 ODI series whitewash at the hands of a second-string England team.

Kamran Akmal explains why Pak's Champions Trophy 2017 win holds less weightage

“Vicky Bhai [Waqar Younis] was the head coach earlier and then there was Mickey Arthur. What have we won after or before the 2017 Champions Trophy? We were No 1 in T20Is and in Tests just for a month. But what about India who have been on the top for five years?”, wondered Kamran Akmal while speaking to paktv.tv.

When Pakistan won their maiden Champions Trophy title

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl first. His decision seemed to be alright for a while as Pakistan were off to a slow start. However, the turning point of the match came when Fakhar Zaman who was batting on 3 

got a reprieve after he was caught behind by MS Dhoni off Jasprit Bumrah only to learn that he had over-stepped. Zaman made full use of this opportunity as he scored a splendid 114 and the Men In Green posted a stiff total of 338 on the board after 50 overs.

Chasing a huge target of 339 to retain their title, the Men In Blue's top-order including the likes of Rohit Sharma, skipper Virat Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan were sent back to the pavilion early on as India never recovered from the initial setback and were eventually bundled out for 158. Even though Hardik Pandya played a valiant knock of 76 where he had hit leg-spinner Shadab Khan for three consecutive sixes, the match as a contest was already over by then after the Virat Kohli-led side were reduced to 72/6. 

Pandya waged a long battle to deny the inevitable. Nonetheless, it was all over in the 31st over after pacer Hasan Ali tricked the number 11 batsman Jasprit Bumrah with a slower bouncer as skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed completed the catch. By the virtue of this mammoth 180-run win, the Men In Green won their maiden Champions Trophy title.

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Published July 17th, 2021 at 11:37 IST

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