Champions Trophy: A disastrous start to Pakistan’s title defence | Sports

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From the 1992 World Cup victory to the surprising victory of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan’s full cricketing history is full of glory. However, as the nation prepared to defend its title in the 2025 Champions Trophy, preliminary signs indicate that the front road is full of challenges.

As a host, Pakistan’s responsibility was double: First, to prove the world that it has full potential to organize a world -class ICC event, and second, able to collect a strong squad. It is a strong fight to reach the semi -finals. Unfortunately, preliminary results show that Pakistan is caught on both fronts.

Start the Champions Trophy 2025 stumbling

The Champions Trophy began with more hopes from Pakistan, which had just come out of the Tree Nation series against New Zealand and South Africa. The series was seen as an important preparation program for the team to identify its weaknesses, make necessary adjustments, and enter the ICC tournament with solid project.

However, Pakistan’s performance at the opener of the tournament against New Zealand painted a different photo. Despite taking advantage of the house, Pakistan was outplayed, out -class and out strategic. The same old issues surfaced: contradictory bowling, depth of the middle order, and failure to hang under pressure.

For the third time in the matter of weeks, Pakistan became the leading New Zealand strategy. The match once again exposed the weaknesses of Pakistan, especially in the last overs of both innings.

A familiar story: Poor bowling of death, gently batting points

New Zealand, batting first, set a difficult target of the 320 elections, which had a large extent two century partnerships and the excellent performance of Will Young and Tom Latham. Pakistan’s bowlers had moments of moments in the middle over, but when they are most important, they failed to maintain pressure. In the death overs, the bowlers leaked the runs, allowing New Zealand to pile up tomorrow, which proved to be very much for Pakistan.

In response, Pakistan’s batting after a disappointing, very familiar script. Instead of bringing the attack to the opposition, he took over with excessive caution. Babar Azam’s slow 81 balls and Fakhar Zaman’s struggle in the crease prevented Pakistan from establishing a strong foundation.

Until the middle order tried to accelerate a late chemo with joy. The result was a 60 -run defeat, a disappointing disadvantage for a team that would be expected to be a strong battle as the champion’s defense.

Choosing errors: to neglect proven spinners

One of the most striking decisions of Pakistan’s selectors was to separate two top class spinners, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali from the Champions Trophy squad. In view of the surface conditions and spin friendly, their emission was nothing short of a strategic error.

New Zealand spinners showed how effective the slower bowling could be in these situations, which led to a turning point and make run scoring difficult for Pakistan’s batsmen. On the contrary, Pakistan’s spin attack lacked penetration, which failed to create constant pressure on the opposition.

If either Sajid Khan or Naaman Ali were included in the squad, Pakistan could have had a better chance to control the middle overs and prevent New Zealand from posting a huge post. The absence of real wicket -taking spinners costs greatly to Pakistan, which further highlights the importance of expert players in key tournaments.

Captain Mohammad Rizwan’s view

Talking after the match, Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan acknowledged that the team had wrongly presented the situation and made strategy mistakes. Rizwan acknowledged that “New Zealand set a bigger target than we expected.” We thought he would score close to 260, but he played extraordinary games. Not every day is Sunday. We chased well against South Africa in the trilateral series, but New Zealand’s bowling attack was stronger. Winning the toss and the first batting Champions Trophy opener can have a better strategy for us.

Rizwan’s comments reflect the lack of Pakistan’s adaptation and awareness. Good teams learn from their mistakes, but it seems that Pakistan is repeating them, which has raised concerns about the effects of the team management and selection committee.

Next Road: Do or die against India and Bangladesh

With the infamous losses in the opening match, Pakistan’s route in the Champions Trophy is already difficult. His next match against the Arc Revolution India on February 23 is now a must win. In view of India’s tremendous batting lineup and a balanced bowling attack, Pakistan will have to bring its A-game to avoid getting out of the tournament.

Pakistan’s last group A match will be against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 27. While Bangladesh looks like a relatively easy opponent, the recent history shows that they are much more than the ability to worry.

If Pakistan fails to overcome its shortcomings in the coming days, defending champions can feel themselves falling out of the tournament without making themselves in the semi -finals.

Time of Change: Cosmetic Fixes will no longer work

Pakistan’s cricketing troubles are deeper than just a bad match. The Champions Trophy opener expert spinners, the bowling of ineffective death, and the issues that are clear in the point of view of a timid batting, have been facing the team for years.

As a famous coach of another game once said, the time for “cosmetic changes” is over. What Pakistan cricket needs is “open heart surgery”. A thorough overview of strategies, selection policies and mentality.

Depending on a temporary solution, sticking with the out -of -form players, and ignoring experts, Pakistan is hurting cricket. If the team wants to compete the best in the world, they should adopt a more professional and merit -based approach.

Result: A wake -up call for Pakistan cricket

Pakistan’s defeat from New Zealand was not just a bad day in the office. It was a wake -up call. The Champions Trophy is a high -standing tournament, and Pakistan cannot afford to continue the same mistakes.

The selection committee should recognize the importance of experts, especially in important positions like spin bowling. Strategy decisions such as batting first or chased should be made based on a thorough analysis rather than a sense of gut. And most importantly, the team should play with the desired intentions and aggression in modern ODI cricket.

With two group matches left, Pakistan still has the opportunity to divert things. But unless they make significant adjustments, their title defense can be eliminated soon.

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