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2017 Champions Trophy: Disappointed over Pakistan's abject surrender, impressed with India's commanding show: Shahid Afridi

Former Pakistan Allrounder Shahid Afridi Expressed Disappointed Over Pakistan's Abject Surrender But Credited India For Their Commanding Show, Saying The Defending Champions Lived Upto The Favourites Tag In Their Champions Trophy Opener.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Gautam Lalotra | Updated on: 05 Jun 2017, 12:41:51 PM
Shahid Afridi - File Photo

New Delhi:

Former Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi expressed disappointed over Pakistan's abject surrender but credited India for their commanding show, saying the defending champions lived upto the favourites tag in their Champions Trophy opener.

Afridi, a former Pakistan captain, said his country's drab show on Sunday took away all the excitement from what was expected to be a high-voltage Group B encounter.

"The Indo-Pak Champions Trophy encounter failed to live up to its hype as Pakistan produced a forgettable performance at Edgbaston. As a Pakistani supporter, the drab show was a painful watch indeed as India once again proved that it has a stranglehold over its neighbour that it is in no mood to relinquish," Afridi wrote in a column for the ICC."India started as the favourite and played the entire game in the same frame of mind, even as Pakistan crumbled limply."

India launched their ICC Champions Trophy campaign with a resounding 124-run victory over Pakistan, extending their dominance over the arch-rivals in major ICC tournaments.

Analysing the match, Afridi said India came hard on skipper Sarfraz Ahmed's shoddy game plan."Sarfraz Ahmed won what was a crucial toss in tricky weather conditions. When rain is around, the team batting second gets a huge advantage. Unfortunately though, a poor game plan and shoddy execution, besides abysmal fielding, nullified the advantage," he said.

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First Published : 05 Jun 2017, 12:36:00 PM

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