Winless and witless, Pakistan lacked belief at the Champions Trophy

Pakistan ended their defense of the ICC Champions Trophy winless and bottom of Group B. This wasn’t supposed to be how it panned out, was it, Pakistan fans? Or should we not be alarmed? 

Pakistan’s presence at the Champions Trophy – the first ICC event the country hosted in 29 years – lasted a mere five days. Losses to New Zealand and India all but eliminated Mohammad Rizwan’s team, and confirmation of another opening round exit for Pakistan came on day six of the tournament as the Black Caps defeated Bangladesh. 

Their final match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi was washed out on February 7, handing the hosts a solitary point after a 60-run loss to New Zealand in Karachi a six-wicket defeat in Dubai. 

Ranked third in ODI cricket, Rizwan’s team entered the tournament after losing a home tri-series final. Before that, they won back-to-back ODI series in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. Sure, they lost the promising young Saim Ayub before the Champions Trophy and then Fakhar Zaman effectively two deliveries into the tournament, but surely they cannot have been such big blows that the team failed to compete in either game? 

Well, the consensus seems to be that Pakistan play their ODI cricket in an outdated manner and that the squad sent to the Champions Trophy was flawed. Many are now writing off the team’s win in Australia since the hosts fielded a second-string team and the one in South Africa too, given how many first-choice players were missing. 

Still, though, should Pakistan have been this abject? 

On paper, once the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced it, the squad did not look balanced. Pakistan knew it had to play India in Dubai on February 23, and yet did not include a second specialist spinner alongside Abrar Ahmed. When he fronted up to the media after Pakistan’s defeat to India, Rizwan tried to convince the reporters seated in front of him that the PCB selectors had chosen the best 15 cricketers in the country. Immediately, eyes rolled and heads shook in disbelief. 

That the Pakistan cricket system is fractured and riddled with problems is not news. There have been murmurs of groupism inside the camp, of selections influenced by external factors and even that the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, made changes to the squad and sent them back to the selectors for ratification. 

On TV stations and YouTube channels, several retired Pakistan cricketers have lamented the lack of talent in the country, and others have been critical of the players picked. Some insist that the supply line of pace bowlers in Pakistan is healthy but that the right fast men have not been given enough opportunities. 

Sources in the know told this writer of serious disillusionment inside the Pakistan camp as well as deep discontent stewing inside a major member of the squad, which has resulted in a fractious environment. One former Pakistan cricketer pointed to bungled selection and the lack of desire in the team to compete. 

If visuals from the backend of New Zealand’s innings in the tournament opener in Karachi suggested that Shaheen Afridi and Rizwan were not on the same page, then to watch first hand in Dubai the reaction that Pakistan’s left-arm quick gave when he was made aware of his skipper jogging laps at the ICC Academy before the team’s first practice session spoke volumes of the apparent rift in the camp. 

There have been weak Pakistan teams in the past two decades as well, but unlike the side led by Inzamam-ul-Haq on the tour of India in 2005, this one under Rizwan was just too meek. That touring side of 20 years ago was far from a dominant Pakistan – Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana were fading, the bowlers included Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Naved-ul-Hasan and Arshad Khan – but it had attitude and the drive to turn around a precarious situation and say to India ‘hey, we aren’t here to be steamrolled’. 

And thus, from 0-2 down in the six-match ODI series, Inzamam’s team won matches in Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Delhi to claim the trophy 4-2. Compare this to the current Champions Trophy squad, which was outclassed by the Black Caps lacked the attitude and belief to compete against India. 

The cricket this team plays appears lopsidedly outdated. From the 90s, it has been widely surmised. The statements made by their coach Aaqib Javed underlined this, unintentionally, which speaks volumes of the way the selectors and players think. Stuck in a time warp, with not enough players playing the way ODI cricket is by better teams in 2025, a Pakistan team without a single enforcer has bowed out of a home Champions Trophy arguably at a new low. Which is quite an achievement, given how many lows Pakistan cricket has seen over the decades.