Irfan Pathan sealed the win in style, hitting a boundary off the first ball of the final over, as India avenged their earlier league stage defeat to Pakistan. Irfan Pathan proved to be handy all rounder for India all through the series especially in match vs Australia and Pakistan. India Champions emerged victorious in the inaugural edition of the World Championship of Legends, defeating Pakistan Champions by 5 wickets in the final on Saturday, July 13 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Irfan Pathan shared a heartfelt moment on camera, kissing his wife, Safa Baig, on her forehead, which garnered much affection from fans. It was Irfan Pathan who held his nerves in the final over to smash the winning boundary, against Sohail Tanvir, straight over the bowler’s head, and wrapped up the match in favour of India Champions.
Irfan Pathan’s heroics as India Legends wins 2024 WCL Champions League Title
India Champions beat Pakistan Champions by five wickets in the 2024 World Champions Championship of Legends final in Birmingham on Saturday. Ambati Rayudu laid the perfect foundation with his fiery half-century, followed by notable contributions from Yusuf Pathan, Gurkeerat Mann and captain Yuvraj Singh as India chased down 157 runs with five balls to spare.
Opting to bat first at the venue, where chasing teams have done marginally better, Pakistan were restricted to just 156 for six. Anureet Singh was the pick of the bowlers for the Indian side as he bagged up an impressive three-wicket haul.
Openers Robin Uthappa and Rayudu then got India Champions off to a promising start with a 34-run stand, before fast bowler Aamer Yamin brought Pakistan back into the game with two quick wickets. India, however, recovered well as Rayudu forged a 60-run stand with Gurkeerat en route to his 30-ball 50, before Yusuf and Yuvraj stitched an aggressive 42-run partnership to take the side closer to victory.
Wahab Riaz broke the partnership by dismissing Yusuf in the 19th over, giving Pakistan yet another chance as they required to defend seven runs from the remaining 10 balls. Eventually, it was Irfan Pathan who held his nerves in the final over to smash the winning boundary, against Sohail Tanvir, straight over the bowler’s head, and wrapped up the match in favour of India Champions.
The all-rounder roared in celebration before being congratulated and hugged by Yuvraj. Later, Harbhajan Singh, who picked six wickets for Indian Champions through the course of the tournament, was left emotional as tears rolled down his eyes and he embraced Irfan Pathan in a warm hug after the match.
With the win, India Champions also avenged their loss against arch-rivals Pakistan earlier in the group stage of the tournament. A fiery performance from the Pakistan top-order – Kamran Akmal, Sharjeel Khan and Shoaib Maqsood – all of whom scored their respective fifties – had helped the team script an emphatic 68-run win at the same venue last week.
Irfan Pathan rolled back the years in Birmingham on Saturday when his famous late in-swinger went through the gate to castle Younis Khan during the final of the World Championship of Legends (WCL) between India and Pakistan, reminding of Irfan Pathan’s famous hat-trick during the Karachi Test between the archrivals in 2006.
Trying to play towards the on-side on a delivery that swung in late and just enough to go through the gap between the bat and pad, the Pakistan Champions skipper could only hear the sound of timber as Irfan’s delivery ended up rattling the stumps behind him.
Eighteen years earlier, when Irfan Pathan was in his prime, he claimed a famous hat-trick in third Test of the series in Karachi during India’s tour of Pakistan. Coincidentally, Younis was the second wicket to fall in that hat-trick by Irfan Pathan , which is still the only instance of a hat-trick in the first over of a Test.
The difference between the two dismissals was that Irfan Pathan generated more swing to dismiss Younis in 2006 and he was adjudged out lbw instead of getting clean bowled, which was the mode of dismissal on Saturday. Following the win Irfan Pathan credited skipper Yuvraj Singh for leading Team India to victory in WCL 2024.
Irfan Pathan lauds Yuvraj Singh for leading India Champions to 2024 WCL title
Former cricketer Irfan Pathan has lauded his India Champions captain Yuvraj Singh after they won the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2024 title at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday, July 13. Irfan Pathan added that Yuvraj deserved the trophy as a leader because of his hunger.
The cricketer-turned-commentator credited Yuvraj for managing the bunch of players and ringing him to take part in the T20 tournament in England. Notably, India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the summit clash. They chased down 157 with five balls to spare.
Irfan Pathan, who took the prized scalp of Pakistan Champions captain Younis Khan, wrote on X:
“So happy to play under the leadership of @YUVSTRONG12. He wanted to win this badly. He deserves this trophy as a leader as he assembled the team in short time & gave each and everyone their role precisely.
“We troubled him a lot by giving him too many advices but he managed everything so so well. Love you brother for that phone call,” he added.
In a video uploaded by Irfan Pathan on social media handles, he said,
“Yuvraj Singh brought this team together. He clearly told me that he did not want me to bowl in the tournament. In fact, he wanted to see sixes with my bat. However, today they bowled me 3 overs.”
The India Champions emerged victorious over the Pakistan Champions in the final of the World Championship of Legends. After the IND vs PAK WCL final, all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, credited the team’s captain, Yuvraj Singh, for assembling a winning squad and leading them to glory.