Despite being the hosts, Pakistan were the first team to exit the Champions Trophy 2025. The country was hosting an ICC event after 29 years, but their team couldn’t bring enough joy to the fans.
Pakistan got off on the wrong foot in the tournament opener. They faced a loss by 60 runs against New Zealand at home. Then, a six-wicket defeat against rivals India meant their campaign was all but over.
There was still hope for Pakistan to end the tournament with a win, but the game against Bangladesh was a washout. So that meant the hosts bowed out without putting up a real fight.
But why did Pakistan fare poorly despite knowing the conditions well?
Here’s the breakdown of Pakistan’s struggle in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Injuries to Key Players
Even before the Champions Trophy began, Pakistan lost their upcoming opener, Saim Ayub. The left-hand batter made his ODI debut in November 2024 and impressed immediately with his solid performances.
But in January, Ayub picked up an ankle injury on the South Africa tour, which ruled him out of the tournament. So, Pakistan called up experienced Fakhar Zaman as his replacement.
Zaman was returning to the squad after more than a year, but he didn’t take a lot of time to settle. On his return, he scored 84 against New Zealand in the tri-series opener and looked in good touch.
But Zaman also endured an injury right at the start of the opening Champions Trophy match. He did bat in the match despite the injury but looked quite uncomfortable, ruling him out of the remainder of the tournament.
These two untimely injuries meant Pakistan had to make last-minute squad changes. And in a short tournament like this, it’s difficult to get off the start immediately.
Defensive Batting Approach
If injuries to key batters weren’t enough, Pakistan batters took a defensive batting approach. And this was the case even on a flat pitch in Karachi.
We have seen other teams taking the aggressive route to score runs in ODIs, but Pakistan seemed to be way behind in time. Their top-order batters didn’t show the intent to score runs at a reasonable run rate, wasting too many balls and leaving few balls for the other batters.
While chasing a target of 321 runs against New Zealand, Pakistan batters played out a whopping 161 dot balls. One can’t afford those many dots when a team is chasing such a target. But Pakistan seemed to have forgotten this.
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Ineffective Bowling Attack
Earlier, when Pakistan played, you’d expect a potent bowling attack. But those days seem to be over.
This Champions Trophy saw an ineffective bowling attack from Pakistan. Their pacers, especially, looked toothless.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah, the best fast bowlers in the country, weren’t even at their best. The trio picked up two wickets each while leaking too many runs.
Then, Pakistan opted to have only one frontline spinner in Abrar Ahmed. He was decent but didn’t trouble the opponent batters a lot.
If a team wants to defend their title, it needs to come out with the best bowling attack. After all, bowlers win you big tournaments.
Unstable Structure
Since the last few years, Pakistan cricket has been in turmoil. There has been constant chopping and changing in the squad, management, and even the cricket board.
Such an unstable environment doesn’t bring desirable results. So, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needs to get its act together to have a steady environment in place.
This will allow their players to work on their shortcomings rather than worrying about team politics. And the same applies to the coaching staff, which has seen many coaches come and go in the recent past.
On top of that, the selection panel is inconsistent. Every few months, new members join the committee, and then the team combination falls apart.
Final Words
These are the primary issues behind Pakistan’s struggle in the Champions Trophy 2025. If these issues persist, Pakistan’s poor performance will continue in several other tournaments. Only sweeping changes from management to the squad can turn Pakistan’s fortunes around.
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