Fakhar Zaman’s cavalier approach was difficult to counter, says Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli says Fakhar Zaman’s cavalier approach was difficult to counter as 80 percent of his “high risk shots” came off well during the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, in London on Sunday.

Zaman’s 114 led Pakistan to a commendable 338 for 4, which they defended successfully.

The Indian captain admitted that the rookie left-hander’s approach did upset the rhythm of his bowlers after he got a reprieve off a Jasprit Bumrah no-ball.

“When a guy like Azhar Ali, who is a conventional batsman, plays his shots, you can still have a plan. But for a guy like Zaman, it becomes really difficult to stop players like him, because I think 80 per cent of his shots were high-risk and they were all coming off.

“So you can only do so much, as I said, as a bowler and as a captain when that is happening, Kohli did sound a tad helpless trying to explain Zaman’s performance.

“Sometimes, you have to sit and say, the guy is good enough on the day to tackle anything. You can only do so much.

Also read: Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan takes dig at 'Men in Blue', says 'India need to stick to playing Hockey'

As I said, you can do little to control when people are going well like that, and we certainly tried to make them hit in areas that we felt it would be uncomfortable, but we just didn’t have anything going our way in that partnership (Zaman-Azhar). We tried our best to hit good areas but they just batted really well today.

The Indian captain conceded that they needed to check the extras, 13 wides and three no balls.

“The extras are something that’s never a good feeling to concede so many. That is something that we need to keep a check on. You know, those things are something that are controllable. A guy hitting a good shot is something that after a stage it’s not in your control as you have already bowled the ball but conceding extras is something that we can control as a team, he said.

“I mean, 25 extras is a bit too much in a game like that, and that’s something that we certainly need to take care of in the future. Obviously, the same bowlers are going to play, the same guys are going to bat. But the more consistent you get in learning from games like this, it’s better for the team in the future. So yeah, that’s an area we certainly need to look at.

Also read: Champions Trophy | India vs Pakistan final: Indian celebrities congratulate Pakistan for win