India and Pakistan are at the centre of the 2025 Champions Trophy impasse. India is refusing to travel to Pakistan citing security concerns while the latter seems reluctant to accept a hybrid model, with India playing their matches in a different country. The two teams, apart from qualifying for the tournament itself, have been integral to the Champions Trophy's history, with the last edition ending with a rather stunning final between India and Pakistan.

India had cruised to the final at the time and were outright favourites to win it. Pakistan, on the other hand, entered the tournament as rank outsiders and also suffered a thrashing at the hands of India in their first match. This had left them at the brink of elimination but they then beat South Africa and Sri Lanka to reach the semi-finals against the odds. They then beat the hosts England, led by Eoin Morgan at the peak of their ODI powers, by a whopping 8 wickets in a result that was by itself considered the upset of the tournament. What they did in the final, though, overshadowed that match by some distance.

How the 2017 Champions Trophy final unfolded

India captain Virat Kohli had won the toss and chosen to bowl first at The Oval. Pakistan had been all out for 164 in the earlier match between the two sides but here, opener Fakhar Zaman alone scored 114 off just 106 balls as they put up a mammoth total of 338/4. He shared 128-run opening stand with Azhar Ali, who scored 59 in 71 balls and the 72-run stand with Babar Azam that came in just 61 balls. Babar and Shoaib Malik then put 47 off 39 balls for the third wicket and the innings ended with a bruising 71-run stand off just 47 balls between Mohamad Hafeez and Imad Wasim.

Such was the prowess of the Indian top three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli that India were still expected to chase down the target. However, Mohammad Amir sent all three players in an extraordinary opening burst. Rohit fell to Amir off the third ball of the first over for a duck after which Kohli fell off the fourth ball of the pacer's next over for five runs off nine balls. Dhawan scored 21 in 22 before falling to Amir in the ninth over and India were suddenly 33/3. The rest of the Indian batting lineup rarely had to bat for long periods in that era due to the prolific form of the top three but they were suddenly entrusted to pull off a mammoth chase of 339.

India's collapse continued as Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav all fell before the end of the 17th over. After that though, there was an extraordinary fightback powered by Hardik Pandya. He shared an 80-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja which came in just 57 balls. Pandya contributed 67 in that partnership off just 35 balls. However, that fighback ended with Jadeja pretty much running Pandya out, with the latter falling after smashing 76 in 43 balls. India were eventually all out for just 158 runs. Amir finished with figures of 3/16 while pacer Hasan Ali recorded figures of 3/19.

Read Also: Hardik Pandya's explosive run continues, smashes 28 runs in an over with four towering sixes at Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? CHOOSE YOUR EMOTICON !