Pakistan couldn't win a game in Group A and was the first team to be eliminated.
Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan captain, has defended the early exit of the hosts from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and stated that injuries and the absence of two key batters disturbed their plans and hence the poor performance.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand and India in their Group A matches, while their clash against Bangladesh was washed out. This meant that the defending champions crashed out of the Champions Trophy 2025 without a win to their name.
Speaking on their campaign, the captain of Pakistan acknowledged that the absence of Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman due to injury upset the team's balance.
"We wanted to do well and perform well in front of our nation. The expectations are very high. We didn't perform well and it was disappointing for us. The guy who has been performing for the last few months in Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe… the team was combined and then suddenly when someone is injured, the team will be disturbed,” Rizwan was quoted by ICC, talking about Ayub’s injury.
“As a captain, you can look forward to that as well. One side you can say that the team is disturbed, but this is no excuse. Yes, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub were injured, but we will learn from this,” he added.
Saim Ayub, star of Pakistan’s ODI series wins in Australia and South Africa, suffered an ankle injury in South Africa and was ruled out as a result. Fakhar Zaman injured his back in the opening match of the tournament and couldn’t continue further.
When asked if he was happy with Pakistan's bench strength, Rizwan emphasized the need for more advancements, mentioning the local circuit.
"We want improvements in different things. If we want to improve, and for Pakistan to have a high standard, we need awareness, and professionalism. We see that in the Champions Cup, but we need more improvement.
We have made mistakes in the last few games. Hopefully, we can learn from these. We are next going to New Zealand and hopefully we can perform there and the mistakes that we did against New Zealand here in Pakistan, we can learn from that. And we will do better in New Zealand,” Rizwan signed off.
Pakistan will next tour New Zealand for a five-match T20I and three-ODI series, starting March 16.