Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi on Sunday claimed that he was manhandled, pushed and shoved by some men after Pakistan defeated India in London. Sethi claimed that those who attacked him at The Oval were a small group of PTI supporters. “I was manhandled pushed and shoved by a small group of PTI supporters. Police pulled me to safety. Overwhelming love and affection though,” Sethi tweeted.
“Several journalists & eyewitnesses confirm a group chanting pro-PTI slogans was involved in manhandling @najamsethi outside Oval #PakVsIndia,” said a Twitterati, to which Sethi replied, “That is correct.”
Pakistan gave a splendid all-round performance as they defended a total of 338 runs and defeated arch-rival India by 180 runs to lift their maiden Champions Trophy title. Chasing a challenging total of 339 runs, India bowed down before the Pakistani bowlers and got all out for mere 158 runs in 33.3 overs.
Brutally honest about the team’s loss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that they could not play the best game and were put under pressure by Pakistan.
I was manhandled pushed and shoved by a small group of PTI supporters. Police pulled me to safety. Overwhelming love and affection though. https://t.co/67ZThw28FT
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) June 18, 2017
PTI simply lost the plot. It was time to get united and congratulate Najam Sethi for making Pak team stronger through boys introduced in PSL pic.twitter.com/3C8JxpioEC
— Ahmad Noorani (@Ahmad_Noorani) June 18, 2017
“They made us make those mistakes because of the way they were bowling and the way they applied the pressure in the field and we have no hesitation or shame to admit that we could not play our best game today. Early wickets are never good, especially in a chase. Then we kept losing wickets. One big partnership would have been the key to set it up nicely, but as I said, credit to the opposition,” he said at the post-match news conference.
Hardik Pandya smashed 76 off 43 balls, including six huge sixes, to give India hope of a dramatic revival but he was run out following a mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja and left the arena shaking his head in an obvious state of frustration.
India will take important lessons from the loss, according to their skipper. “You learn with every cricket game that you play,” Kohli said.
