India captain Virat Kohli on Sunday said it was a disappointing end to their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 campaign after his team lost to arch-rivals Pakistan by a huge margin of 180 runs in the final match at The Oval on Sunday. Pakistan dominated with both bat and ball to thrash a rather off-colour India to win their first-ever Champions Trophy title. The South Asian nation claimed their third ICC tournament, having earlier won the 50-over World Cup in 1992 and the World Twenty20 in 2009.
Put in to bat, Pakistan rode on a century by opener Fakhar Zaman to post a massive total of 338/4 in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, defending champions India were all out for 158 runs in 30.3 overs. For Pakistan, pacers Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali bagged three wickets each. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was the highest scorer among the Indians with 76 runs from 43 balls.
Speaking after the match, Kohli remained gracious in defeat and lauded his boys for playing well in the tournament.
"Indeed disappointing. Congratulations to Pakistan and their fans. The way they turned things around speaks volumes of the talent they have in their side. They can upset anyone on their day. Disappointing to lose but I have a smile on my face because I am very proud of the boys. To be in the final, you need to have a good tournament, which the boys pulled off.
Kohli credited Pakistan for pulling off the victory and said that Sarfraz Ahmed's men were more intense and passionate.
"Credit to Pakistan; they outplayed us. We never took anyone lightly. They were more intense and more passionate. I think, with the ball, we could have had more wicket-taking opportunities. We have always tried to do our best but sometimes, the opposition does play very well. Even with the ball, they were very aggressive.
While praising the young Pandya for his knock of 76, the Indian skipper also tried to play down the magnitude of the defeat.
"Hardik was outstanding but apart from that, we didn't show any resistance. We haven't won the final, have lost a game of cricket, and that's all. We need to move on and learn from our mistakes. We just weren't good enough on the day. We will take that on the chin and move on," he said.
