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Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram slammed his national side for their underwhelming performance in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025. The Men in Green faced a humiliating six-wicket defeat at the hands of their arch-rivals India in the fifth game of the marquee ODI event. Noting his team’s failure, Akram couldn’t hold his anger while doing a post-match analysis on a popular Pakistani news channel and came heavily on his team. Pakistan have consistently failed in ODI tournaments after their popular Champions Trophy 2017 victory as they haven’t qualified for the knockouts in ICC ODI events since then.
The 58-year-old has accused his team of playing an obsolete brand of cricket in the limited-over formats of the sport. “Drastic steps needed. We are playing archaic cricket in white-ball for ages," said Akram as quoted in NDTV Sports. He also remarked the selectors should make massive changes in the side and bring young and intrepid players no matter what the results would be. “This need to change. Bring fearless cricketers, young blood into the team. If you have to make five-six changes. Please make it. You keep losing for next six months. It’s fine but start building team for World T20 2026 from now onwards." added former Pakistan skipper.
"Enough is enough. You have made them the stars. In the last five ODIs, Pakistan bowlers have managed to get 24 wickets at an average of 60. That is 60 runs per wicket," Akram said about Pakistan's bowling unit
New Zealand’s five-wicket victory against Bangladesh eliminate Pakistan from the competition
In the sixth game of the tournament at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, New Zealand hammered Bangladesh by five wickets and punched their tickets to the semi-finals. Chasing a score of 237, the Kiwi side saw the heroics of Rachin Ravindra, who hit his fourth ODI ton. Riding on the southpaw’s 112 off 105, New Zealand chased down the score in 46.1 overs.
New Zealand’s triumph has also reserved India’s spot in the knockouts while the defending champions Pakistan and Bangladesh are officially knocked out of the competition. Both Asian sides will face each other in Rawalpindi on February 27. India will clash with the table-toppers New Zealand on March 2.
