Dubai : Pakistan Captain Mohammad Rizwan admitted that his side laboured to get India's batting maestro Virat Kohli's wicket but he escaped from their ploy and took the away game and potentially Pakistan's Champions Trophy campaign.
In a throbbing atmosphere and a vibrant crowd in Dubai, Virat justified why he holds the reputation as the "chase master." When India set out to chase down a 242-run target, he took the mantle of steering his side to victory on his shoulders.
Nostalgia took over fans as Virat perfectly planned out India's route to success. The strike rotation, finding the gaps on sloppy deliveries and dispatching the ball to seal the winning runs, made plenty of fans relive what Virat has been consistently doing over the years.
Virat roared back to form with an unbeaten 100 off 111 balls, laced with seven fours, a delight for every cricket lover. He added a couple of feathers to his hat, including the fastest to 14,000 ODI run milestone.Rizwan wasn't just fascinated with Virat's effortless chase masterclass; what surprised him the most was the level of fitness the 36-year-old exhibited throughout his time on the crease.
"First, let's talk about Virat Kohli. I am surprised at his hard work. He must have worked so hard. The world says he is out of form, but he comes to such big matches, which the world is waiting for, and he easily hits the ball - and this is where we don't want to give him runs. But he plays and gets away from us, and he gets the runs off the ball," Rizwan said in the post-match press conference.
"I will definitely praise his fitness level and hard work, the way he has done it. Because he is a cricketer and we are also cricketers. We tried very hard to get him out, but he took the game away. He has done a lot of hard work. The whole world said he was out of form - But he did it in this big match," he added.
While analysing his side's performance, Rizwan didn't mince his words while admitting that his side floundered in all three departments of the game. "As far as the match is concerned, you are disappointed. Because when you lose, you have a difficult day, difficult things come up, and questions come up. But if you look at it all, you can't say there was a mistake in any department, except if you look at the bowling of Abrar, which was the most positive in this match. We have not made any mistakes. All three departments have made mistakes. That's why we are losing the match," he said.
After suffering a second defeat on the trot, Pakistan's chances of keeping their title defence alive have significantly slimmed. Pakistan's fate is now in the hands of Bangladesh. If the Tigers pull off an upset over New Zealand in Rawalpindi on Monday, the Men in Green will live to fight another day.