Brendon McCullum impressed by Kohli and his team

India were hammered by Pakistan in the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy yesterday at The Oval. They were outplayed by a resurgent Pakistan side, who were outstanding in all three departments of the game. In the end, Pakistan were crowned champions as they won the game by a huge margin of 180 runs.

Indian chase never got going as Mohammad Amir ran havoc with a spell which reminded Wasim Akram of his playing days. He bowled at pace and swung the ball into the right-handers getting Rohit Sharma plumb in front of the wickets on the third ball of the Indian innings. From there on, it all went downhill for the defending champions as they were bowled out for 158, their lowest score in the tournament.

Former Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum, who was a part of the commentating team for the tournament, said that India were excellent in the entire course of the mega event but couldn’t get going on the day when it mattered the most. He was particularly pleased with the way Kohli spoke at the post-match interview. The Indian skipper congratulated his Pakistan counterparts on the way they played in the finals. He praised Amir’s spell as well which McCullum said was being “gracious in defeat”.

It was a result which not many have imagined. India have a supremacy over Pakistan in ICC tournaments but Pakistan were professional, mentality very strong and played fearlessly to beat their arch-rivals. Pakistan had earlier lost against India in both teams’ first group game.

McCullum retired from international cricket in 2016 but continues to play T20 cricket around the globe in various franchise based leagues. He led his side to the finals of the 2015 World Cup but couldn’t get them over the line. In 101 Tests and 260 ODIs, McCullum scored 6453 and 6083 runs respectively. He is the only cricketer from New Zealand to record a triple hundred in Test cricket.