Why India ended up on the wrong side in Champions Trophy final?

One of the most anticipated finals in the recent past - ICC Champions Trophy final between India and Pakistan brought in a lot expectations for the fans.

It was the first time since 1985, both the teams clashed in the final of a major ODI tournament.

The teams picked for the final -

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah

Major Highlights of the match -

A maiden ODI hundred by Fakhar Zaman who smashed 114 off just 106 balls helped Pakistan build the mammoth total of 338.

It was a wasted opportunity for India when Fakhar Zaman edged the ball to the keeper but Jasprit Bumrah has overstepped which was termed a no-ball. This became the turning point of the match as India struggled to grab wickets.

Mohammad Amir, one of the major contributors to the Pakistan victory removed all of India’s top three batsman - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikar Dhawan within the first few overs building up the pressure for India.

Even as India lost hope of winning the match, Hardik Pandya hit a knock of 76 with classy shots.

Hasan Ali too came into the attack and picked up three wickets taking Pakistan to a comfortable win.

What went wrong for India?

Toss dilemna -

Skipper Virat Kohli choosing to bowl first instead of setting up a good score onboard for Pakistan. India's strength lies in batting - without playing to the strengths particularly in the final, the team decided to bowl which seemed like a defensive move.

Coming from an aggressive batsman like Virat Kohli, the decision was definitely a mistake as a chase in the final can never be easy.

Extras -

Giving away extras in the form of wides and no balls builds up pressure always on the team but conceding 25 extras especially in a final is a complete failure from the bowlers.

India’s bowling innings -

India failed to test the Pakistan batting as the players bossed the game with every batsman hitting a half century at the least. Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Kedhar Jadhav - all failed to bring an impact and conceded too many runs. India was on the backfoot during the entire game as bowlers failed to create any opportunities. While Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar made a comeback in the last overs of the game, the match was already in favour of Pakistan.

Brilliant performance by Pakistan -

There was no stopping the Pakistani batsmen who put up the huge mammoth total for India to chase. Opener Fakhar Zaman rode on a century with brilliant contributions from Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez. The momentum never shifted in the batting even as the last ten overs fetched them a game-changing 91 runs taking their total to a challenging 338.

Disastrous start for a chase -

With the mammoth target ahead, the Indian innings was off to a disastrous start lost consecutive wickets in the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after which there was no hope of recovery. Even the in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who went into the final as the tournament's highest scorer, was unable to hang in for a longer duration as he was dismissed for 22 runs.

Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were back to the pavilion in quick succession as Pakistan headed to their victory.

Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja tried to stage a comeback with an 80-run stand, but it was too late. Following a horrible mix-up, Pandya was run out in the 27th over and the match was done.

Not India's day -

It seemed that the final was India's bad day as nothing worked in favour for the team despite winning the toss. Fakhar Zaman's no ball dismissal which turned out to be costly as he went on to score a century, catches falling in where no players were placed or Azhar Ali putting down a catch of Kohli which later didn't turn out to be helpful as the batsman was once again caught off by Shadab Khan.

Despite coming into the tournament as the lowest-ranked team, Pakistan who even lost heavily to India in their opening match knocked out every top team to lift the Champions Trophy.

With two arch rivals pitting against each other, the expectations were high but Pakistan dominated the final completely and beat India in their first major tournament clash since 2009.

Despite the 180-run defeat, Captain Virat Kohli showed grace and dignity in his comments. Crediting Pakistan for a splendid performance, Kohli went on to admit that the rival team outplaying India and showed better composure in pressure situations.

Saying that they gave their best in the tournament, the skipper said one has to accept losses and need to 'take it in the chin and move on'.