ICC Champions Trophy: 5 reasons why India lost to Pakistan in the final tie

The beginning of the end for India came right with the call to field first after winning the toss

Companies News : The hopes of more than a billion Indian seemed to have come a cropper on Sunday when their national team was handed a humiliating defeat by arch-rivals Pakistan in the final match of Champions Trophy, 2017. Played at the Oval in London, the match saw India crumbling in their chase of 339 runs and getting bundled out for a lowly 158.

Worse, the debacle for India – their biggest margin of defeat in an ICC tournament yet – came in their first clash with Pakistan in a summit match since 2007. Before this, India’s 125-run loss to Australia in the 2003 World Cup final, at Johannesburg’s New Wanderers Stadium in South Africa, had been their most crushing defeat.

While it was embarrassing for India, the emotions on Pakistan side were those of jubilation that comes with unexpected triumph. At the 8th spot in ODI rankings, Pakistan were the lowest-ranked team at the beginning of Champions Trophy 2017. But the way they downed the favourites like South Africa, Sri Lanka and England, and finally India, will be remembered by cricket enthusiasts for a very long time.

Among the most spectacular takeaways from Sunday’s game were the phenomenal opening spell by left-arm Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir and the brilliant maiden century by Fakhar Zaman, besides sublime field performance by Sarfraz Ahmed’s boys.

Here are five turning points in the match that took the game away from India:

1. The toss: Banking on India’s recent record of successfully chasing down big targets, India skipper Virat Kohli opted to put Pakistan in to bat first. This, it turns out, would have been a good toss to lose for India, as Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed also said he, too, would have elected to field if he had won the toss.(more)

ICC Champions Trophy: Top 8 memorable India vs Pakistan matches

Ahead of the Champions Trophy clash, we look at India-Pakistan ODI matches in ICC tournaments

The most awaited contest in the ICC Champions Trophy, 2017, will be the one between arch-rivals India and Pakistan -- on Sunday, June 4, at Edgbaston, Birmingham. The match is sure to refresh the age-old rivalry followed closely over decades, and it promises to be one of the highlights of the tournament.

While India-Pakistan Cricket matches had been more common in earlier years of this decade, things have changed in the past few years, and India-Pak clashes on cricket field have become few and far in between. Matches in marquee ICC tournaments have an added significance, given the prize that any team wins is much bigger. While India has never lost a match to Pakistan in World Cup tournaments, it has been beated in two of the three times the two teams have met in Champions Trophy tournaments.

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India-Pakistan Cricket has been known to stop traffic, give people racing heartbeats and force students to skip studies even during exams. Fans expect Sunday's match to be nothing short of great, despite Indian captain Virat Kohli playing down the importance of this clash and branding it as 'any other match'. Even as we wonder if India will begin its defence of the Champions Trophy title on a successful note, let's take a look at earlier memorable India-Pakistan matches in World Cup and Champions Trophy tournaments.

1. 1992 World Cup

This was during the 1992 World Cup at SCG in Sydney that these two nations from the Indian sub-continent played together in a World Cup match for the first time. (more)

AB de Villiers No 1 batsman in ICC ODI list, Kohli only Indian in top 10

Kagiso Rabada ranked No 1 bowler, not a single Indian player in top 10 bowlers ranking

India captain Virat Kohli is the lone cricketer from the country to feature in the top 10 of the ICC Players Rankings for ODIs as he managed to hold on to his third spot in the batsman's chart.

The intense competition in the individual rankings justifies the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy's significance as players from the eight participating teams feature prominently in it and not much separates the top players in the fray.

The top three batsmen - South Africa's AB de Villiers (874 rating points), Australian David Warner (871) and Kohli (852) are separated by just 22 points.

Among other Indians to feature in the top 20 of the ICC Players Ranking for ODI batsmen are Rohit Sharma (12th), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13th) and Shikhar Dhawan, who dropped a place to 15th.

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However, there was disappointment for India in the bowlers chart as not a single cricketer from the country features in the top 10 list which is being headed by Kagiso Rabada of South Africa.

Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel finds himself at joint 11th spot along with New Zealand's Matt Henry while Amit Mishra (13th) and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (joint 18th) are the other two Indian bowlers to feature in the top 20 list.

Only 23 points separate the top three bowlers - Rabada (724 points), Imran Tahir (722) and Mitchell Starc (701).

India, South Africa and England have four batsmen each inside the top 20 with New Zealand (three), Australia and Pakistan (two each) also having significant presence. Read more