Courtesy: PCB/ICC
Mohammad Rizwan, the Pakistan captain, gave up hope of defending their Champions Trophy title after losing to the arch-rivals India in a one-sided contest by six wickets with 45 balls to spare at the Dubai International Stadium. After the Pakistan cricket team lost their opening two matches in Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, the 32-year-old remarked that it’s over for now, while not liking the idea of progressing to the knockout stage of the tournament with help from other teams.
Notably, while Pakistan haven’t won any of their group stage fixtures yet in the ongoing Champions Trophy, they are still not out of the tournament as of this writing. The Men in Green need Bangladesh to get the better of New Zealand in the Group A fixture before India to do the same to the Kiwis next weekend, while at the same time, they need to defeat the Tigers with a big margin, to improve on their net run rate (NRR) for a potential chance at qualification through to the semi-finals.
In his post-match chat, Mohammad Rizwan said that “for now, we can say that it’s over. This is the truth” before explaining further that he doesn’t like the idea of making the next stage via the NRR route. He was quoted as saying, as per Cricbuzz, “As a captain, I honestly don't like this. If you can win, then do it. If you can't, then don't worry about it. I don't care if you are sitting in someone else's shadow.”
The captain of Pakistan was honest in his assessment of his team and the players in the Champions Trophy thus far, stating that “I don't care if you are outside the tournament or in it. Yes, New Zealand has defeated us; India has defeated us. We accept it. We can play well; we can play badly. We can't say that we should stay on someone else's side. Allah has made this a chance, we can't say anything about it.”
Moreover, Pakistan’s final Group A match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to happen against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on February 27.
