An incredible display against India saw Pakistan lift the Icc Champions Trophy in front of a packed audience at The Oval. A few weeks back when the ICC Champions Trophy tournament began, Pakistan was the lowest ranked team out of the eight teams competing in the match. As a result, not many people gave this team a real chance of winning. However, the team proved them wrong.

Summary of Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy campaign

Pakistan began their campaign against the team that they would meet India again in the final. This game did not go as per the plan as the men in green did not triumph.

Following this opening game defeat, Pakistan really turned their campaign around. This was largely due to some superb performances by star bowlers. Mohammed Amir, Hasan Ali and Junaid Khan started to get the ball to reverse swing and this saw the team beat South Africa, one of the tournament favorites. This was followed by a win over Sri Lanka, which set up a semi-final clash with England, the host nation.

Nobody expected the Pakistan team to beat England but another incredible performance by the fast bowler led to another big victory. This win was especially impressive since the team was without their star bowler, Mohammed Amir. Amidst this, their arch-rivals India were also winning.

Pakistan entered the final as massive underdogs but after a solid batting display, things were beginning to look good for Pakistan.

This was followed by an incredible performance which, thanks to the bowlers, led to a huge triumph and Pakistan's first major tournament win in 25 years.

Pakistan's key Champions Trophy performers

The top performers in team Pakistan in this tournament were by far the bowlers. The 23-year-old fast bowler Hasan Ali ended the tournament as the top wicket taker, while the more experienced bowlers Mohammed Amir and Junaid Khan also made their presence felt when it mattered.

This trio effectively led the Pakistan team and ensured that the they were always in the game.

In addition to the bowlers, Team Pakistan's captain Sarfraz Ahmed also had a terrific tournament and he led his side well all through the team's campaign. Ahmed made some aggressive bowling changes and set great fields, and this complemented the bowlers very well. This along with a match winning performance in a must-win game against Sri Lanka summed up a very successful performance for the Pakistani skipper.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED