India played like favourite: Afridi

“The Indo-Pak Champions Trophy encounter failed to live up to its hype as Pakistan produced a forgettable performance. As a Pakistani supporter, the drab show was a painful watch indeed as India once again proved that it has a stranglehold over its neighbour that it is in no mood to relinquish,” Afridi wrote in a column . “India started as the favourite and played the entire game in the same frame of mind.” 

Analysing the match, Afridi said India came hard on skipper Sarfraz Ahmed’s shoddy game plan. “When rain is around, the team batting second gets a huge advantage. Unfortunately, a poor game plan and shoddy execution, besides abysmal fielding, nullified the advantage,” he said. “Mohammad Amir bowled a splendid first over and I thought he would strike with the new ball. 

Strangely though, Sarfraz handed the other new ball to Imad Wasim despite the overcast conditions. The tactic was perplexing for me since the match wasn’t being played in the UAE! Even if Sarfraz wanted to surprise India, he should have deployed his faster bowlers after an over or two from Imad,” said Afridi.