ICC Champions Trophy 2017: India-Pakistan final set to be the third most watched game in cricket history

What’s the story?

The India play Pakistan in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval in London today (June 18) and statisticians are expecting the match to be attended and watched by a record-breaking number of audience. According to the International Cricket Council’s estimation, a total of 132 million people will be watching the match from all over the world.

It will be the fifth time the two countries will meet in the Champions Trophy, and their intense rivalry on the field has made this encounter all the more interesting.

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It will be a high-octane, high-pressure and highly anticipated encounter

India, being one of the overwhelming favourites as well as the defending champions of the tournament, have lived up to their tag and have been excellent apart from the one game against Sri Lanka in the group stage.

Virat Kohli has led from the front and has had the support of his teammates in all the games. Bowlers have bowled exceptionally well while the top run-scorers of the tournament are the two Indian openers.

Pakistan, on the other hand, were the lowest ranked team in the tournament. They came to England at the back of ODI series win over West Indies, but all that confidence went flying out of the window when India mauled in the opener, winning by a gargantuan margin of 124-runs. Their batting was in a disarray, their bowling look liked a limpering shadow of its former self and their fielding was, well, like it has always been.

However, Sarfraz Ahmed’s men made a riveting comeback and have not looked back since. They won all their matches after the debacle, and beat the tournament favourites, England, to reach their first ever Champions Trophy final.

The details

The head-to-head of India vs Pakistan matches at the Champions Trophy is tied at two apiece. That too has added to the anticipation surrounding the clash. The match today will be behind just two other matches in terms of viewers worldwide:

• India vs Sri Lanka – ICC World Cup final, 2011
• India vs Pakistan – ICC World Cup semi-final, 2011

What’s next?

It’s no surprise that the final is garnering attention from all quarters, considering the two teams meet each other only in ICC tournaments now. It will be a challenge for players from both the teams to forget about the cornucopia surrounding the match and concentrate on the game.

At the end of the day, the team that handles the pressure better will come out on top of this high-octane clash.

Author’s take

This match is surely going to be one of the biggest ODI matches of the century and will stay in the memory of cricket enthusiasts for a long amount of time. It is the first time in the history of the game when the arch-rivals will be meeting each other in the finals of a 50-over tournament. Can’t get bigger, can it?

The setting is surreal and now it is upto the players to make it an unforgettable experience for themselves and their fans.