Sarfaraz hopeful Champions Trophy victory will rejuvenate international cricket in Pakistan
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Speaking at the post-match press conference following his side's victory over arch-rivals India, Pakistan cricket team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed lauded his team's victory and expressed his desire to see international cricket return to Pakistan.
"I think this is a great achievement for me, my team and my country. Hopefully, this win, everyone will remember not [just] today or tomorrow, but for a very long time," said Sarfaraz, who was accompanied by team coach Mickey Arthur.
"When we arrived here we were ranked 8th, and now we are the champions. So, hopefully, this win will boost Pakistan cricket and all [cricket] playing nations will come to Pakistan."
Paying credit where it was due, the skipper appreciated his young teammates' efforts in the tournament: "The credit goes to my boys; they're learning very well and they work hard."
Sarfaraz went on to acknowledge the mature response he received from his side, comprised of many fresh recruits, saying, "When superstars play it is easier to guide them during a match because they don't need much guidance; they already know how to cope with high-pressure situations. But these youngsters are remarkable and highly committed."
"Players like Fakhar Zaman, Shadab [Khan], Hasan Ali, all these players deserve to be recognised for their performances; that they were playing their first ICC tournament and nobody expected us to perform the way we did with a young team. All the credit goes to the entire team, they all worked really hard."
"A lot of people had vibes that we might not be able to defeat India, that their batting is too strong for us to handle. However, our batting and bowling were up to the task today," the captain noted.
'No dedication questions, please'
After a reporter asked him who he dedicated the victory to, a chuckling Sarfaraz refused to answer the question, saying, "Don't ask the 'dedicate' question again, please. I don't even comment on the matter and it still causes an uproar."
The light-hearted reply was seemingly a reference to former cricketer Aamer Sohail's inflammatory comments on Friday after he was seen criticising Sarfaraz Ahmad on TV for allegedly refusing to dedicate Pakistan's win against Sri Lanka to Javed Miandad, which came on the cricketing legend's birthday.
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Jun 18, 2017 11:38pm
Yes but please let these boys play and please retire shoaib malik,wahab riaz,hafeez,ahmed shehzad and wahab riaz.
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Jun 18, 2017 11:39pm
Well deserved....
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Jun 18, 2017 11:48pm
Congrats Team Pakistan. Well played!! Cheers on behalf of Indian peoples.
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Jun 18, 2017 11:49pm
I am disappointed as this was not a nail biting match! Kudos to the entire Pak team!
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Jun 18, 2017 11:51pm
I feel Amir not getting as much spotlight than he should. If he wasn't for him, India would have caught us with Kholi batting :(
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Jun 18, 2017 11:51pm
Well done Captain
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Jun 18, 2017 11:52pm
I became fan of 18 year old shadab confidence in yuvraj's dismissal.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:02am
Congratulations on your tremendous victory, I believe this win could be a turning point in the make up of the team for the future.The team has to prepare for the exit of players like Wahab Riaz, Mohd. Hafeez and Shoib Malik. Hopefully Umar Akmal can apply his talent to good use.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:09am
In whole match as we have learnt, that its our own Ego conscious that we couldn't achieve success to beat the India. Yet it's proven under formal captain sarfaraz that much could not be with experienced team players and also got through Nation Stress.
How player, well played, Better played ! No more recomendations.
Also we should make remaks for India that has played also very well and get him self for the Finals.
Victory goted pakistan. Always be blesses pakistan.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:17am
Boys played well.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:26am
I am sad, but well played Pakistan.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:32am
SUPERB VICTORY Congratulation Pakistani team on their outstanding performance - all pakistanis all over the world.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:32am
1.3 billion Indian brought smiles to 200 millions Pakistani.I am proud.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:34am
PAKISTAN ZINDA BAD
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Jun 19, 2017 12:40am
We proved Pakistan the best in cricket, lets start proving same in some other games like Soccer, Hockey, Tennis, Athletics, squash , swimming, winter games and there is no end. Pakistan should put resources in other games not just cricket.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:42am
Green The greatest, Blues The best.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:43am
They entered the match as under dogs and crushed the Indian side which they might require some time to recover from the agony, so moral of the story is to be in earth stay humble no one is invincible not even mighty West Indies nor Australia, take a bow Pak u outplayed Indians in all the departments spl thx to Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, ShDB, Aamir last but not least the intensity of captain Sarfaraz.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:43am
well done team pakistan, now pakistan team will get rid off some players, Pakistan can win match without the players who are thinking pakistan team is nothing without us.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:45am
Shahid Afridi was wrong saying there is no talent in pakistan, See there is talent in pakistan or not.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:47am
Well done, boys! A very well-deserved finish.
GREAT JOB, Sarfaraz!!! Thanks for the early Eid present :)))
Way to go, Fakhar, Hassan, Amir... and Azhar for staying at the wicket like a mature opening batsman he's become!
Time for Wahab, Shoaib and Hafeez to hang up their hats like Misbah and Younis did. Their Team and fans appreciate their services.
And RESPECT to Kohli for exhibiting true sportsmanship and class in admitting defeat and giving credit where credit was due.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:03am
Play was perfect except few silly mistake like catch dropping, and poor fielding which let India touch the boundaries. Pakistan today's luck was at peak,although no doubt they played excellent.It was a total bad day and bad luck for India having lost Kohli & other stalwarts initially.But the sportmanship was best,which both sides displayed.I congratulate both Pakistan & India for performing a high standard interesting game, and must requests our Indians neighbors please take this match as your own win, after all your own desiguys won.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:05am
@SRT .Thank you SRT .I appreciate your spirit.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:06am
Yes! Cricket should definitely return to our beloved homeland...India should realize that playing politics on cricket is getting them nowhere except getting more hatred from peaceful Pakistanis!!
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Jun 19, 2017 01:14am
@Murali p .Yeah it was not nail bitting match, it was a strange and unbelievable that 18 years old boy Shadab was taking wickets, while his balls were easy to convert 6s so easily simultaneously. Believe me once both teams reached final,I consider both won. The instant match was a friendly match,by and between two neighbors.Afterall one team has to lose. I must still say the toughest team for us is Indian team, no matter this time it lost, but it can get trophies in future no doubt about it. BTW I thank you for your congrats.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:30am
Love you team green. Keep the green flag high.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:31am
It's victories like these that will bring back Cricket to Pakistan. Not one-time-shows to advertise governments like the PSL final!
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Jun 19, 2017 01:42am
Congratulations to Pakistani team, it's Coaches, supporting staff members of Pakistan team, and to PCB. Thank you Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed for your guidance and encouragement of the team, particularly of young new players. I wish, that the international cricket comes back to Pakistan.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:43am
Very good team work under Sarfaraz. Fakhar Zaman and Amir were excellent! Sportsmanship displayed by Kohli appreciated. No foul incident.
Wishing Politicians follow the same traits.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:49am
Well done, boys! A very well-deserved finish.
GREAT JOB, Sarfaraz!!! Thanks for the early Eid present :)))
Way to go, Fakhar, Hassan, Amir... and Azhar for staying at the wicket like a mature opening batsman he's become!
Time for Wahab, Shoaib and Hafeez to hang up their hats like Misbah and Younis did. Their Team and fans appreciate their services!
And RESPECT to Kohli for exhibiting true sportsmanship and class in admitting defeat and giving credit where credit was due!
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Jun 19, 2017 02:04am
sarfraz outperformed kohli in captaining his side to victory.If there was a prize for best captain sarfraz would get that reward. outstanding captaincy against kohli
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Jun 19, 2017 02:15am
With present state of political affairs in the country, it is too soon to desire International Cricket in Pakistan. In my opinion it may take another year before revival of cricket by foreign teams in Pakistan. Let us pray that this may happen sooner than later.
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Jun 19, 2017 02:15am
Yes, We have found new talent in form of Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, and Fahim Ashraf so Now it's time for seniors like Hafeez, Malik, And Ahmed Shahzad to be put away...And I see Abdul Razzak in Fahim Ashraf So let him play International cricket invariably.. And please Please don't exploit his talent...
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Jun 19, 2017 02:17am
Barber played wonderful innings in the start and gave pak a sound base otherwise shohaid Malik almost put pak on back foot .indians are a strong team .well player
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Jun 19, 2017 02:37am
Congratulations. A very well deserved victory. The young Pakistani team played to their full potential.
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Jun 19, 2017 03:15am
Cheeers pakistan
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Jun 19, 2017 03:31am
@SRT thanks dear.
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Jun 19, 2017 03:36am
@Ashu india So true. The confidence of that young gun - and the presence of mind. That too while bowling at Yuvi - who is an ODI legend in his own right.
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Jun 19, 2017 03:56am
Well played Pakistan!! I apologize to Sarfaraz and his team for abusing and criticizing them on 4th June. The whole nation should apologize to the team. No international cricket at home, 8th ranked ODI team, no hope for them. And here they are! Champions all the way!
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Jun 19, 2017 04:18am
@Qadir ali no need to force retire anyone. fitness and form should be the criteria for selection. new faces should be given chance in each tour. old guns need to improve their ante to keep their places. personally i wish to see sharjeel khan to open with fakhar. a healthy competition between amir-junaid-hassan-rumman-wahab. and a competition between shoib-faheem-imad for all rounder spot.
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Jun 19, 2017 04:29am
What a way to win! Congratulations Pakistan cricket team for superb display
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Jun 19, 2017 05:07am
With this superb performance, we should not go back to square one. From now on we want to see aggressive cricket from pakistan as played by most nations.
If Sharjeel is back and faheem ashraf becomes a regular with roman raees as a great death overs bowler. We can become as good as any other strong team.
WELL DONE TEAM PAKISTAN
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Jun 19, 2017 05:40am
Well played Pakistan !! Well deserved victory. India - you were good too in this tournament.
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Jun 19, 2017 05:45am
Hafeez and Malik should stay if they are fit enough
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Jun 19, 2017 05:50am
@Andy yes, who can get Kohli out on 2 successive balls ? I feel the man of the match should have gone to Amir. Without those 3 main wickets so quickly of the 3 best batsman, would have been very difficult to beat India.
Great job Amir!
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Jun 19, 2017 05:54am
Best Father's Day present for Pakistan!
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Jun 19, 2017 06:28am
@Sarfaraz, Proud Indian, Azmer No they didn't, as 1.3 billion Indians were supporting their team and not Pakistan. Pakistani team brought smiles on the faces of 200 million Pakistanis.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:02am
Magnificent job by the skipper and all the players who were true giant slayers. However, sad to note that not one mention has been made here, or in comments on other Dawn stories on the final, on the overall stewardship of coach Mickey Arthur and his staff. (For instance, if it had not been for the physio, the centurion opener would not have taken the field for the final.) Anyway, salute team Pakistan.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:04am
@Ashutosh Thank you so much. It's appreciated. Your comments fill us with confidence for the future of Pakistan Cricket.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:06am
@SRT Thank you so much. It's appreciated. I extremely impressed with Kohli's comments after the match. What a gentleman.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:07am
@Waqar Ahmed -goted is not a word. It has to be either get, got or gotten.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:21am
Congrats to Pakistani team for a well deserved win.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:34am
Exceptional captaincy by Sarfaraz Ahmed and super performance by Pakistan team. Thank you God for the success. God bless Pakistan. Pakistan Zindabad
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Jun 19, 2017 07:46am
For me the man of the match is Mohmmad Amir..Stirling bowling effort. My view is also to get rid of the oldies from the team and bring in younger talent....way to Pakistan cricket. cheers from India.
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Jun 19, 2017 08:21am
Atleast ahmed shahzad and hafeez should retire and kindly bring in fawad alam before its too late.
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Jun 19, 2017 09:06am
You already doing well without home series. It is only wise to continue in neutral venues.
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Jun 19, 2017 10:39am
Pakistan still needs Azhar, Hafeez, and Malik to bring stability in upper & middle order. Hafeez had played really well in last two matches.
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Jun 19, 2017 10:40am
This win was satisfying beyond a doubt.
From an entertainment POV, nothing will beat the asia cup final where Afridi hit 2 six's at the end to win. That was one of the best games I had ever watched. And this win remains the most satisfying in my books.
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Jun 19, 2017 10:42am
Congratulations from India
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Jun 19, 2017 11:11am
India was in hocky mood
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Jun 19, 2017 12:19pm
Need to move on for WC 2019 with some new talent to replace aging Hafeez and Malik. Bring daring talent from the domestic setup like Fakhar, HAsan and Shadab.
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Jun 19, 2017 12:31pm
Well done green-shirts. Keep it up and hang on tough and please don't get complacent in the days to come.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:13pm
This winning because of the
1.fearless approach of pak openers were running between wicket despite of several throws to stump but all are missed.
2.No balls and wides which relieved the pressure from batsmen.
3. Particularly 2nd lbw shouting was not gone for review..i don't know why they did not go.
4.They didn't bring Mohammed shamy , he is the wicket taking seam bowler.They would have bring Umesh or samy instead of Aswin or Jadeja or Jadav.
5.Kohlie's overconfident.
6.Dinesh karthick have been in good form for the couple of years.but they didn't use him and gave continuous chances to yuvraj.As for me Yuvraj is legend but he is not in good form as like before.
7.why kohli did not ask Jadav to bowl between 20 to 30 overs since Aswin/Jadeja pair was not doing well
However Pakistan played well.Congrats to Pak team.But Still I believe Indian team is quite better than pak.better luck next time.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:33pm
I THANKS ALL THE PAKISTANI PLAYER FOR THEIR VICTORY
SAROJ MISHRA FROM INDIA
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Jun 19, 2017 01:45pm
Well done pakistaan.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:47pm
I am very much impressed by the positive admiring comments for Pakistani team from Indian DAWN readers. Thank you so much. Thank you for your excellent sportsmanship.
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Jun 19, 2017 02:49pm
Congrats to Pakistan for the wing but expecting international cricket return is unlikely.
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Jun 19, 2017 04:46pm
Well,
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Jun 19, 2017 04:46pm
Congo team Pak
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Jun 19, 2017 05:39pm
This happens when you play for your Country. I feel pain sometimes when despite their limited opportunities & incentives, these pakistani young talents doing all their bit & still get all sort of accusations & thrash from fellow countrymen & former cricketers. India might be a better side, but their individual ambitions had overridden Nation's cause, hence they were undisciplined, did not have any co-ordination & fell to a more dedicated side.
Congratulations from India !! May this brings new life to cricket in your country & we will again see the legends like Saeed Anwar, Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib, Saqlain, Mushtaq, Inzmam & what not !!
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Jun 19, 2017 06:50pm
An extremely all round great performance from the young Pakistan team. No point in blaming Indian team. On this day Pakistan team were prepared to beat any side in the world.
Congratulations to them for a well deserved victory. I'm sure.they have a great future and I hope International cricket returns to Pakistan.
In a game one side has to lose so hats off to Kohli for his true sportsmanship and being humble in accepting defeat.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:54pm
Congrats Pakistan & well done India, it just wasn't your day. I was very impressed with Virat Kaohli's positive attitude during the press conference after the match. I'm confident India will win many future tournaments & World Cups under his leadership.
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Jun 19, 2017 07:56pm
I hope Pakistan nurtures this young cricketing talent that they have. Please listen to the advice of positive role models like Wasim Akram & keep characters like Aamir Sohail away.
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Jun 20, 2017 11:51am
@Sheldon ...need not to be, I m an true Indian & also a sports lover..before the start of the match I supported india..but after seeing pak batting my support automatically shifted to pak cricket team.. reason :pak well known for bowling not for batting...so it's the way they batted which made me to support pak.. well deserved win..Perfect gift to pak for Ramzan..
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Jun 21, 2017 06:01am
Too may mistakes were covered by Amir's brilliance. Kholi practice catch was dropped, Imad played a worst inn at death overs. What was the point of insisting with Fakhar's bowling when Pandya was showering sixes all over the park, Imad's running was so awful that Indian commentator was visibly upset by his lack of energy. It was another lucky day or Fakhar's bravery and Amir's brilliance.
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