Pakistan blew India away in the biggest match ever played between the two arch rivals. Pakistan thrashed India in the final match of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 – the mini world cup of cricket. The team struggling to be part of this tournament has now become the champion with a well-deserved and glorious victory. Most of the so called analysts did not give Pakistan any chance to progress in this tournament; nevertheless, the greens had other plans! Pakistan was on a winning spree, blowing South Africa and Sri Lanka out of the water to make it to the semi-finals. After defeating England at their home ground, it qualified for the finals for a face-off against India.

A lot has been talked about arrogant and over-confident India’s dominance over Pakistan. Ahead of the Champions Trophy Finale, it was quite difficult for the fans to keep calm. Many Indians, in the footsteps of their ‘idols’ like Rishi Kapoor and others, took the game to another level. The Pakistan team, in response to Indian jokes and memes, rose with balanced cricket and conquered the favourites of the trophy, seizing the moment. As Sarfraz took the final catch to seal the Championship, there was another lovely montage, the whole triumphant team romping in a fitting dance of victory.

Pakistan defeated India after a convincing performance. This was indeed a tit-for-tat to all the Indian arrogance. What a turn of events this has been for the Pakistani cricket team. It was Pakistan playing all the way in the final match, never gave India even an iota of a chance to chase the massive total of 338. Pakistan completely out played and out classed them in all departments of the game, achieving a ‘comprehensive’ victory. The Pakistani bowling, led by Muhammad Aamir rattled the so called world’s leading batting side after posting a mammoth total based on some excellent and exquisite batting guided by Fakhar Zaman.

Time for India to recall that Pakistan had always dominated India in cricket with a record of 72-52 wins before this match, however, in the ICC events arena; the greens were lagging behind India since 1992. It’s all beneath the dust now and what is visible is the glaring victory of Pakistan in the biggest match between Pakistan and India. The chants of Pakistan Zindabad echoed in the streets of Pakistan and England all night long. June 18, 2017 will indeed be remembered as a historic day for the country and a remarkable achievement by the cornered tigers who were constantly isolated by the international community!

The Pakistani nation has immense emotional attachment with and a passion for cricket. Cricket unites this nation well, and a match between Pakistan and India always rejuvenates the patriotism of this country. Though, there has always been much uproar on TV channels, the streets and on social media where sneers and taunts get exchanged amongst the hyper public of the two countries, however, all the haters, critics, and mocking were well silenced after bulldozing of Indians on the big final.

The new heroes of cricket are here; the young blood has proven itself and has revitalised the men in green, notably Fakhar Zaman, the Man of the Match and Hasan Ali, the Man of the Tournament. The energy that they have brought into Pakistani cricket has lifted the spirit of the team and the confidence of the nation to a great level. The future of Pakistani cricket is promising. The importance of young guns has been realised, Pakistan has immense talent which is waiting to be utilised in other fields as well, and it is high time that the old horses give space to younger generation in other fields as well.

It is time international cricket is brought back to Pakistan, even London is struggling with terrorism yet the Champions Trophy was played in great spirits; why is only Pakistan the victim? It is clear ICC tried to sideline Pakistan but it is impossible to sideline the champions. The victory in the ICC Champions Trophy is the beginning of new era in the history of our cricket and hopefully this new looking side would bring more laurels in the future. This victory will be remembered not just today or tomorrow but for a very long time – the biggest ever against India!

The writer is a Young Professional at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad.

Junaidashraf87@hotmail.com