Fakhar Zaman says Kohli, Bumrah sledged him during Champions Trophy final

KARACHI: It was indeed a historic moment when Pakistan beat India by 180 runs to win the maiden ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval in London.

While Hasan Ali was the star of the tournament, the day belonged to Fakhar Zaman who changed the course of fortune with the brilliant match winning century against India in the final.

The opener had scored 2 fifties in the tournament against Sri Lanka in last group stage match and against hosts and pre-tournament favourite England in the semifinals.

Fakhar made the most of an early reprieve off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling and slammed his maiden international hundred. Bumrah ended with unimpressive 0-68 in nine overs including eight boundaries.

Fakhar has revealed that Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Bumrah had a go at him and opener Azhar Ali during their big opening stand.

“There was a lot of chatter when Azhar Ali and I were at the crease.

Virat was constantly saying,

“Arre, ek wicket nikal jayega toh yeh saare out ho jaayenge. Bas ek ko nikaalo jaldi (If we get one wicket, the rest will collapse),”

Fakhar was quoted as saying in a telephonic interview by First Post.

“Bumrah had me caught behind, but it was off a no ball. So, he was also very vocal. On one occasion, he said, “Thoda saamne bhi run banaa le. Kab tak aise khelega? (Make some runs in front of the wicket. How long are you going to play like this?),” added Fakhar.

However, the Pakistani opener made it clear that the Indian cricket team did not cross the line and the “sledging” was only “cricket-related”.

“But to be honest, the Indian players didn’t cross any line. Actually, that was purely cricket related and positive sledging, which is fine. Everyone wants to see his team win and they do their best to achieve that,” said Fakhar.

Fakhar said that after he had scored a hundred, he was applauded by Kohli while MS Dhoni did not react.