How could a team that postponed a series against Zimbabwe to not risk their spot in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, not only clinch a title, but win it in a resounding fashion? It is a question that no cricket expert — not even the Pakistan team — can manage to answer. Yes, the team had a process but the fact that they stuck to it, despite all their flaws, is inexplicable.
It took Pakistan a humiliating loss, ceaseless criticism, a "special team meeting", slight luck, a captain's innings and some flawless cricket to absolutely hammer India in a high-pressure match, a scenario where a composed Indian team were supposed to prevail. For more reasons than one, Pakistan will probably be happy that India outclassed them in their opener of the Champions Trophy. The "aberration" in the group stage led to this triumphant run. Virat Kohli's men activated Pakistan's transformation from underdogs to winning monsters, only to end up facing their robustness in the final.
We had all seen this before. India's playing XI and the decision after winning the toss didn't make any sense. Though the hype and predicted result remained the same, there were signs early at The Oval that hinted the match was not going to turn out the way most people expected it to. There were misfields, unforgivable errors and phases of play that must have made fans pull their hair out in frustration. Pressure got the better of a team that usually deals with it like most teenagers do with their exams: don't care about the moment too much and the tension won't affect you. Two similar games, indistinguishable results, same pattern of winning: Pakistan were at the losing end at Edgbaston and India at The Oval.
