Azhar Mahmood said that it was a team effort at the Champions Trophy and it was especially pleasing that it was a young team which took the side to a win. He also claimed that these players represent the future for Pakistan
As Pakistan revels in the glory of winning the Champions Trophy, bowling coach Azhar Mahmood has lauded the efforts of his side and said that the performance was not surprising and quite expected.
In an interview to Pakpassion.net, Mahmood said, “Our improvement in all departments was phenomenal and whether it was batting, bowling or fielding we seemed to click at the right time to win the trophy. The improvement we saw was not only there in the way we turned around our fortunes during the Champions Trophy, but this was also there beforehand with our performances in the West Indies series where we showed great energy not only in ODIs but also in the Test matches as well.”
He added, “There is no better feeling than knowing that we have won the ICC Champions Trophy or any major tournament for that matter. One can only praise the Almighty for His reward for our hard work before and during this tournament not only in our bowling but in the overall sense.”
“As a coach involved with the winning side, this is the best feeling one can have, but it gets better if we consider the fact that we won the final against our arch-rival India and lifted the Champions Trophy. We did so, at a time when no one gave us any chance of success. No one gave us any credit for the hard-work we put in as we prepared for this tournament and we were written-off after our defeat to India in the tournament opener,” he further added.
“It was a team effort at the Champions Trophy and especially pleasing if we consider the fact that this is a young team which helped us win. The lads represent the future for Pakistan but it was also great to see the seniors responding well. So, players like Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez responded really well to our objective of playing the brand of cricket which we now want to play,” he said.
Source: Cricket.com.pk