The stadiums were finally ready, opening ceremony was successful, PCB Chairman looked content with his managerial role , the coaching staff were hopeful and fans were anxiously waiting. It was the start of 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and Pakistan was happy to host an ICC Tournament after more than 2 decades. But, all that effort and excitement turned into utter disappointment within first few days and Pakistan team is at the verge of getting knocked out of the tournament without making it to semifinal.
Pakistani fans were hanging onto the “Unpredictable ” Mantra, and “one minute up , one minute down” comments from Nasser Hussain in 2017 commentary. There were hopes of big runs from Babar, leadership from Rizwan, calmness from Saud, all round performance from Agha and Khushdil and bowling fire from the Trio: Shaheen, Rauf and Naseem. Instead, what we saw was quite the opposite. The three consecutive ODI losses to NZ at home ground ( twice in Tri Nation series earlier in the month ) and once at the opening match of CT , followed by convincing win by India in Dubai last night sums it up really well.
There were problems with selection , and application on the day. There was limited spinners variety and skills , lack of power hitters at the back end and lack of runs at the top 3. There was fear of losing, lack of intent, resulting in drowning in self inflicted pressure on the field. The fast bowling trio which was a huge strength on paper as per team coach Aqib Javed failed miserably. If you are a fan of Pakistan Cricket Team then it is a bad news , because the recent ICC tournament performances have rather been an emotional torture. It seems they are playing a different brand of cricket as compared to other established international teams. I fear, if things do not change drastically which appears quite unlikely , we are at the verge of seeing Pakistan Cricket facing same destiny as did their Hockey few decades ago.
