ICC Champions Trophy | Kohli singles out "early wickets" for loss

In the final of the ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan posted a huge total of 338 after being asked to bat first by Indian captain Virat Kohli. But defending champion India could only manage 158 runs. Kohli admitted that the Pakistan team did far better and control their nerves in a high-voltage encounter.

Yes, we have shown the composure in pressure situations most often in this tournament, but that is no guarantee that you're going to do it every time. Obviously, your best effort is to try and do it every time, but cricket is not about doing well in every game that you play. You will have failures, and one team has to lose on the day, and today was our day to lose because the opposition played much better than us.”

Kohli said, “Early wickets are never good, especially in a chase. Then we kept losing wickets. One big partnership would have been the key to set it up nicely, but as I said, credit to the opposition. They've also come to express their skill and win a cricket game, and they certainly did. They had to own their win. They made us make those mistakes because of the way they were bowling and the way they applied the pressure in the field, as well, and we have no hesitations or shame to admit that we could not play our best game today.”

Hardik Pandya finally showed his capability - something his captain had been speaking about throughout the tournament. Pandya bowled economically and gave 53 runs in 10 overs and was the one who finally got centurion Fakhar Zaman’s wicket. During India’s innings, he showed his value with his bat also after India lost their 6 wickets for just 72 runs. A confident Pandya completed his half-century off 32 balls and gave some hope to Indian supporters before a terrible mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja sent him back to the dressing room.