London: Pakistan's reputation for the unbelievable — good and bad, often at the same time — may seem hackneyed, but it would have been hard to be convinced two weeks ago that this was a team capable of winning the Champions Trophy.
From crashing to an embarrassing, umpteenth defeat to India in Birmingham to beating the same opponent in the final, Pakistan has travelled the full range on the scale.
Along the way, Sarfraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur — captain and coach — have managed to turn their band of talented but inexperienced men into a brilliant team.
Big-match player
India had no answer to Mohammad Amir, who broke the spine of the run chase with his dismissals of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (drawing two edges off two balls) and Shikhar Dhawan. It cannot be easy for batsmen new at the crease to face a left-armer like Amir, with his pace and movement.
Life has come full circle for the bowler, who six years ago was arriving at nearby Southwark Crown Court — 2.5 miles from the Oval — to face a hearing into spot-fixing charges.
“It says a lot about his personality,” Arthur said afterwards.
“We've been through all that before. But, what I do know is that Mohammad Amir is a big-match player. The bigger the game, the more he performs, the more amped up he gets, so he doesn't shy away from pressure situations. He's got proper big match temperament, and he showed that today on the biggest stage.”
Arthur dismissed Pakistan's defeat to India in the opener as an aberration, insisting that he had believed in the team all along. There were crucial personnel changes, however.
Fakhar Zaman replaced Ahmed Shehzad and Junaid Khan filled in for the injured Wahab Riaz. Before the Champions Trophy, Zaman had played only one ODI. He finished the final as the Man-of-the-Match, his blithe, attacking shots laying the foundation for the win.
Zaman the fighter
Later, he revealed how ill he had been the night before, believing that he would not play in the final.
“When we came yesterday for practice, I wasn’t feeling good. I knocked only five to ten balls and left because I had no energy. I had practised a lot the day before. I was sweating a lot. I was fasting the day before.
“Then I called our masseur, and Shane, our physio, and told them that my body feels very bad, please do something. When I came back to the hotel, I told Shane I couldn't play tomorrow. But he gave me tablets, protein, glucose — he gave me everything and told me, ‘No you will play tomorrow’.
“He was with me the whole time. When I woke up in the morning, I was feeling good.”
His two years in the Pakistan Navy had helped, Zaman insisted.
“I did a lot of hard training. It built a very strong base. In the Navy, our coach Azam Khan saw me playing cricket and told me I could play higher. He then wrote letters to the headquarters and said that he needs me for cricket.”
A revelation
Hasan Ali, who made his international debut only in August, was a revelation, taking priceless wickets in the middle overs, and was rightly declared Player-of-the-Tournament for his 13 scalps (at an economy rate of 4.29).
Zaman and Ali were hugely influential as Pakistan saw off South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and India; going from barely qualifying for the Champions Trophy to beating the world's best and winning the whole thing.
Along the way there were contributions from Azhar Ali, Shadab Khan, Rumman Raees and old warhorse Mohammad Hafeez, who perhaps surprised even himself with his uncharacteristic belligerence on Sunday.
By Pakistan cricket's standards, though, that is no surprise.
