Rohit Sharma sends a message after the Champions Trophy defeat

India vs Pakistan has always been a rivalry which has generated the most amount of interest and attention on either side of the border and around the world. Wherever a match between the two countries is played anywhere in the world, the result is packed stadiums and unbelievable frenzy. India has got the better of Pakistan in recent times mostly. Pakistan has never been able to defeat India in a World Cup match in any format. Although Pakistan has got the better of India on a few occasions in the Champions Trophy, they were clearly not the favourites to lift the trophy by defeating India in the Final.

Pakistan suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Indians in the opening game of both the teams. However, Pakistan bounced back to make it to the finals where they once again locked horns with India. India were expected to easily overthrow the Pakistanis in the Final. However, fate had something else in store for Kohli and Co. Young Fakhar Zaman gave an incredible start to Pakistan scoring a brilliant century. Fifties by Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafeez helped Pakistan end with a mammoth score of 338.

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The Indians needed to have a good start to their chase. However, Mohammad Amir had other plans. He picked up Rohit Sharma in the first over followed by Virat kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. This broke the backbone of the Indian chase which looked clueless regarding how to deal with the spirited Pakistani attack. Yuvraj, dhoni and Jadhav soon headed back to join their colleagues at the dressing room.

Hardik Pandya played extremely well and looked to be in the zone for a special knock. His knock of 76 off less than 50 balls was absolutely thrilling and gave the nation a glimmer of hope. However, a confusion in the middle with Ravindra Jadeja led to Pandya being run out in the most bizarre fashion. Jadeja and the tailenders soon ended their resistance to grant Pakistan a historic Champions Trophy win for the first time.

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Virat Kohli was extremely gracious in defeat and congratulated the Pakistani team on a brilliant spirited performance. Other members of the Indian team also sent out messages to their fans through social media. Rohit Sharma, who ended up being the second highest run scorer in the tournament behind his opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan sent out a positive tweet which showed some intent. It read,

We hope the entire Indian team is thinking on similar lines because apart from the Finals, India has been pretty good throughout the tournament barring the match against Sri Lanka. They should carry on with their positive mindset and look to win more games of cricket and prepare for the 2019 World Cup at the same time.