Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed believes his side's crushing victory over India in the Champions Trophy final would serve as a catalyst to bring back worldwide cricket back home.
The villagers were arrested in thr Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh state on Monday after police received a complaint that they set off firecrackers and shouted slogans following Pakistan's dramatic win on Sunday.
"It was a treat to watch young Fakhar Zaman smashing an enterprising century (114) and experienced batsmen Muhammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali contributing valuable half centuries to inspire Pakistan to a superb total, then our pace battery led by Muhammad Amir ripped through the Indian batting and young bowlers, Hassan Ali, Shadab Khan and Junaid Khan underlined their talent with skillful bowling to dismiss India at a low total", they said. Chasing the hosts' 328 and with a solid platform laid by the openers, he produced a solitary run from his first 12 balls before suddenly attempting to tackle Michell Johnson's short ball, producing a top edge that Brad Haddin safely pouched. As a result, the Indian cricketer won hearts in Pakistan and earned a new share of fans from across the border. India were dismantled, systemically and ruthlessly, in a manner that will take some recovery - Pakistan coasted past the finish line by a mammoth 180 runs.
Many Pakistanis felt Kohli was gracious with his generous comments, which they thought showed his sportsmanship. The previous highest was registered by Australia when they thrashed India by 125 runs in the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg. "The runs given in the middle overs were too much", Harbhajan said. So great is the burden of expectations that one of the teams invariably folds under the pressure.
There is the school of thought that preaches batting first in a big final, so as to put the pressure of the scoreboard on the opposition - not many heads nodded in agreement when Kohli chose to bowl first after winning the toss.
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Former Barca defender Javier Mascherano also agreed a one-year suspended sentence with authorities for tax fraud last year. Last week, Ronaldo was accused by a state prosecutor of four counts of tax fraud totaling $16.5 million.
This doesn't necessarily mean India aren't as good as they are perceived to be.
He reached his century off 92 balls by sweeping Ravichandran Ashwin for four and launched the spinner for six in his next over before aiming a huge blow off Hardik Pandya to leg only to top-edge into the off-side - ending a 72-run stand with Babar Azam.
Any thought of the unlikeliest of victories was snuffed out when Pandya was run out by the length of the pitch after a mix-up with Jadeja. We didn't take them lightly.
In the ICC ODI Player Rankings, Pakistan pace bowler Hassan Ali and rookie opener Fakhar Zaman are among those to make huge gains. "So, hopefully, this win will boost Pakistan cricket and all [cricket] playing nations will come to Pakistan", the Dawn quoted Sarfraz, as saying. India had a superior record over Pakistan at ICC events, including a win when the sides last met in the final of a global event, the World T20 in 2007. We don't get the home advantage like other teams.
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