New Delhi, Nov. 21 (TNS): Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir had to overcome some really nervous moments during his famous spell in the Champions Trophy final before he eventually bowled Pakistan to victory against India at The Oval, Indian media reported on Tuesday.
Amir broke the backbone of the Indian team as he picked up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli which helped Pakistan crush their arch rivals by 180 runs in the summit clash and lift their maiden Champions Trophy title in June.
But it was the dropped catch of Kohli a ball before he was dismissed which made Amir almost think that the match was as good as over at that point.
Kohli was dropped at first slip by Azhar Ali when he was batting on 5 in the third over with India struggling at 6 for 1, and having already lost the wicket of Rohit for a duck in the first over.
“Everybody knows if you get Kohli, India is 50% out of the game. Until he is at the crease, India’s chances of winning are 70-80%. If you look at his chasing ratio, he is at the top of the world. He chases well, he performs well under pressure. So our plan was to get their top order – (Shikhar) Dhawan, (Rohit) Sharma, Kohli, the guys who were scoring the runs in the tournament,” Amir told ESPNCricinfo in an interview.
“When Kohli was dropped, I thought half the game was gone to be honest. Because he is the kind of batsman if you give him a chance, he won’t score less than hundred. Ninety-percent of the time, you give him a chance, he gets a hundred. Recently against New Zealand, they dropped him on 15 or 20 and he scored a hundred. He doesn’t give you a second chance.”
But Amir gathered himself quickly after the dropped chance and stuck to his plan of bowling outswingers to Kohli and the very next ball he got the most prized wicket in the Indian batting lineup, caught at point by Shadab Khan.
“In my mind, I thought he’ll be ready for my inswinger, because the previous ball had been an outswinger. So I thought, 80-90% he would be ready for an inswinger. But I wanted to bowl at him in the same area, and move it away again.
“If you look at the clips of it, you can see he shaped to play it to leg, he moved to play it to on (side), thinking I was going to bring it in. My thinking was that if I bowl again in the same area, the same ball going away, he might go to play it thinking it is coming in, and edge it to slip again, but it went with the angle to point,” Amir added.
Kohli went back to the dressing room having scored just 5 runs from 9 balls in India’s 339-run chase and Dhawan soon followed suit, dismissed by Amir in the ninth over for 21. Hardik Pandya delayed the inevitable for a little while and entertained the crowd with a quickfire 76 off 43 balls but it was all but over for the 2013 winners by then.
Hassan Ali (3/19) and leg-spinner Shadab Khan (2/60) also picked up crucial wickets as India’s innings wrapped up for 158 in the 31st over triggering massive celebrations across Pakistan.
