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After leading his team successfully in the Champions trophy by winning the finale for the very first time, Sarfraz Ahmed thanked the association and all other people related to this grand win

First of all, thanks to all the media. I think great things went for me, my team and my country. Hopefully this win, everyone will remember, not today, not tomorrow, (but for a) very long, long time. Credit goes to my team management. They worked really hard after the first defeat. They motivated us, and they passed it on to my boys. They’re learning very well, and they’re hard working. When we arrived here, we were No. 8, and now we are the champions, so hopefully this win will boost up Pakistan cricket and hopefully all playing nations are coming to Pakistan. Thank you very much.

On the feeling of winning CT17.

I’m not sure how to react. After the loss to India, the morale was down and a lot of credit should go to the team management for the way they lifted the side. The boys have to be given credit as well, the way they got motivated after that, we played every single game, thinking this is a knockout game for us. We defeated good teams in this tournament. The players did a lot of hard work and that’s why we are champions.

On the combination of experience and youth in the side.

When big players play, we don’t have to tell them how to get out of pressure situation. The youngsters we have – Hasan Ali, Shadab (Khan), Fakhar (Zaman) – that they are playing their first ICC event. No one thought we’ll perform like this. A lot of people thought we couldn’t defeat India. We lost the toss, we scored 338, the fielders caught well and the bowlers did their job as well.

On how Pakistan turned things around and who the win is dedicated to.

Please don’t ask me about dedicating. I don’t even say anything and things are blown out of proportion. I dedicate this win to the whole nation. We just told them that they should play their natural game. We wanted them to play in the same way they play in domestic cricket. If you look at Fakhar, the way he played the first game, he played it the same way he plays in domestic cricket. People say Azhar (Ali) is slow but he also played well today. Hafeez bhai as well. This has been an exceptional team effort.
On the contribution of PSL

We haven’t had cricket in Pakistan for eight years and that has been a big setback. We have been playing in Dubai and the teams aren’t ready to come to Pakistan. The way we hosted PSL, we’ve got a lot of talents out of it. Fakhar was performing in domestic cricket but he caught the eye because of PSL. This is a very good sign. I hope, after this win, all teams will support Pakistan cricket and will send their teams to Pakistan.
On the toss

When I lost the toss, I was very happy. You are never sure what to do. If you post 280-290, then the opposition, no matter how long their batting is, they have to chase it down. Fakhar and Azhar bhai gave us the belief that we can post a good total. Credit goes to Fakhar, Azhar Ali, then Babar Azam and Hafeez bhai. They made sure we had momentum. All we had thought was we have to give 100 percent. We wanted to bowl first as well.