Pakistan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan during the ODI match against India in the ICC Champions Trophy at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, in Dubai, UAE, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan has conceded that his team’s Champions Trophy campaign is as good as over following his team’s loss to India here.
The six-wicket defeat to India was Pakistan’s second in as many games. From Group A, India and New Zealand are expected to reach the semifinals. Pakistan’s last league game is against Bangladesh on February 27.
“We can say that our campaign is as good as over. We have to depend on results of other matches. There is hope as there is one more game left. As a captain, I don’t like this scenario (depending on other teams). We should have our fate in our hands,” said Rizwan at the post-match press conference.
He gave due credit to India and especially Virat Kohli, who completed his 51st ODI hundred and his fourth against the arch-rivals.
“I am amazed at the hardwork he puts in. The whole world was saying he was out of form but coming into such a big game, he scored runs effortlessly. His fitness and work ethic is indeed praiseworthy. We tried our best to get him out but we could not.
“As far as the match is concerned, we are obviously disappointed, We made mistakes in all three departments. We were not able to take wickets in the middle overs,” he added.
Pakistan came into the tournament as defending champions having won the last edition back in 2017. They are hosting an ICC event for the first time in 29 years and an early exit as hosts will indeed be a big setback for Rizwan’s team.
Pakistan had lost to New Zealand in their tournament opener. The Blackcaps had also beaten them twice in the preceding tri-series in Pakistan.
Rizwan said the team is not learning from its mistakes.
“Look, honestly, we made the same mistake that we have been making in the past with four matches.
“We are trying to do our work and put in our efforts. Because what I believe in is that our Indian team put in more effort than us today. Maybe they were more brave than us. And we needed energy in our fielding. So maybe we lacked that energy,” said the wicket-keeper batter.
Rizwan acknowledged the injuries to openers Saim Ayub and more recently Fakhar Zaman did impact them adversely.
“Our loss occurred when we missed out on Saim Ayub, because we had a package with Saim Ayub because of which our team had settled down. But when Saim Ayub left, our balance and our team’s combination faced a big impact.
“Then Fakhar came and did what was required of us. Then Fakhar Zaman came and then Imam. Imam and Fakhar are two different players. You can’t match them in any category. Because they have different calibres and different things,” he said.
Pakistan’s decision to pick only one specialist spinner in the squad has also drawn criticism.
Rizwan defended that selection call saying it is the age of all-rounders.
“No, you can’t say anything like that – that we did a mistake by picking just one spinner. If you look at that Indian team also they have Kuldeep as the front-line spinner.
“Jadeja is like an all-rounder, the same goes for Axar Patel. We also have Salman Ali Agha – he bowled very well in other countries as well and Khushdil Shah, they bowled very well in the past.
“If we don’t take wickets in the middle overs – you can’t win the matches,” Rizwan rued.
Published – February 24, 2025 10:53 am IST
Content Source: www.thehindu.com