'Feared my house will get vandalised': Azhar Ali opens up on dropping Virat Kohli during the 2017 Champions Trophy Final

Virat Kohli is regarded as the master of run chases. The former Indian captain has scored 22 of his 46 ODI hundreds in successful run chases, which is a world record. Kohli has always succeeded against bitter rival Pakistan and flourished under the pressure of such a high octane fixture.

Kohli has an ODI average of 48.72 against Pakistan and a T20I average of 81.33. While the chase maestro has excelled against Pakistan on several occasions, he has also failed a few times. The most famous of these rare failures was during the 2017 Champions Trophy final in England.

During his brief stay at the crease, Kohli was dropped by Azhar Ali in first slip on the sixth ball of his innings. Recalling the event, the former Pakistan cricketer recently said that he felt the heated pressure as soon as he dropped the star batsman's catch. He went on to say that he began to fear the scathing condemnation he expected from the entire country if Kohli played a daddy innings to take India home.

"I saw it in reality. Between that drop catch and his dismissal, plenty of things flashed before my eyes. It felt as if I have been burdened with weight and pressure, and that the entire world is watching me and asking as if 'Look what he's done'."

"That was my feeling and I thought 'God forbid, if he does what he is famous for... if he chases this down - he scores a lot in chases - my house will get vandalised'. Fortunately, I was just thinking about all these scenarios and he got out the next ball," Azhar said on 'Hasna Mana Hai'.

Fakhar Zaman was Pakistan's outstanding batsman throughout the game, scoring 114 off 106 deliveries to help his team build up a massive total of 338/4 in the first innings. The opener, though, received a respite early in his innings when Jasprit Bumrah removed him on a no-ball. Ali revealed stunning details about the occurrence, revealing that Zaman had dreamed about the identical incident a few days before the final.

Pakistan went on to register their biggest win against India as the Men in Blue were bowled out for 158 in pursuit of a total of 339 runs. Mohammed Amir was at his lethal best as he was the wrecker in chief, getting rid of the top order, which comprised Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli to finish with figures of 3/16 in his six overs.

Published on: Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 11:18 AM IST