Pakistan men’s cricket team’s captain, Mohammad Rizwan, on Sunday, February 23, conceded that aggressors’ Champions Trophy title defence has effectively virtually come to an end after losing the match by six wickets against India in Match No. 5 of the Champions Trophy 2025, played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. In a must-win match for the hosts of the ongoing ninth edition of the Champions Trophy, Rizwan won the toss and opted to bat first and had his decision backfire; the Pakistani team could manage only 241 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 49.4 overs.
The player with the highest score was Saud Shakeel (62) for the defending champions; Rizwan scored 46 from 77 balls. The target of 242 runs was convincingly achieved by Team India in 42.3 overs for the loss of four wickets.
Rizwan admitted that his team’s campaign in the Champions Trophy had come to an end after batting superstar Virat Kohli scored his 51st ODI century to seal India’s memorable win.
“We can for now say it’s over, and this is the truth,” admitted the Pakistan captain.
But, despite his words, the Pakistanis are alive in the semifinal race; were Bangladesh to win against New Zealand, then if Pakistan beat Bangladesh by a large margin, and India wiped out New Zealand, then Pakistan could still make it into the top two and qualify for the knockout stages from Group A.
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Said Rizwan, who became Pakistan’s ODI captain in October 2024, he would rather not do it from the back door.
As 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 in someone else’s shadow. I don’t care whether you are out of the tournament or in it. Yes, New Zealand has beaten us; yes, India has beaten us. With that, we accept the truth. We can play well, we can play poorly, but we can’t say that we should be seated somewhere with someone else. Allah has made this opportunity, so no other excuse is accepted, “Rizwan was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
“In the next match, we will see what Bangladesh does with New Zealand, what New Zealand does with India, and what we do. Yes, a long road lies ahead of us, and our trust is in Allah. Our reliance on other teams goes to ensure our way into the Champions Trophy,” he said.
Rizwan was asked about the sole spinner, Abrar Ahmed, who had been included in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy selection; in his defense, he said, “How could you say it was wrong to take just one spinner? I mean, from the Indian side as well, only the front-line spinner is Kuldeep. Jadeja and Axar Patel are all-rounders. We have a balance with Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah, who bowled really well before.”
The right-handed wicketkeeper-batter accepted that all his teammates failed to fire with the bat during the must-win match.
“The middle order wasn’t good enough. Yesterday in our meeting, we had stated that on this pitch 270-280 would be enough. Because the outfield was slow, and the pitch was also slow. Had we scored 280, maybe the results would’ve been different,” Rizwan said.
“Saud Shakeel and I tried to build a partnership, and we took up so much time,” he continued. “But after that, the shot selection slipped, and that’s when they started to create a window to get our wickets. Our middle order, given I think the pressure of the situation, was not in a position to handle the issue.”
