The Champions Trophy 2025 has gotten off to a rocky start for Pakistan, and their first match against New Zealand was a disappointing one – they lost by 60 runs. What made it tough for the Pakistani team was their poor bowling performance, followed by a batting display that saw them play over 100 dot balls, making it a real challenge to get back into the game. This defeat has come as a significant setback to Pakistan’s hopes of making it to the semi-finals, and understandably, the fans are not happy.
The team’s performance has also drawn criticism from former cricketer Kamran Akmal, who expressed his disappointment, saying that Pakistan doesn’t deserve to be in the Champions Trophy. During a live discussion on a Pakistani media channel, Akmal shared his thoughts, “At this point, a series is being played between Ireland and Zimbabwe – that’s the kind of competition Pakistan should be facing. If they can win against those teams, then maybe they’ll be worthy of playing in the Champions Trophy.”
It’s worth recalling that Pakistan’s bowling was subpar in the match against New Zealand, with talented bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and Nasim Shah failing to stop the Kiwi team from scoring 320 runs in the first innings. What’s more, New Zealand managed to score runs at a rate of over 10 in the last 10 overs of the match. In response, the Pakistani team could only manage 260 runs, which wasn’t enough to secure a win.
The Pressure is On for Pakistan
With the Champions Trophy 2025 format featuring four teams in a group, each team has to play three matches. Unfortunately for Pakistan, they’ve already lost one match, which puts their semi-finals hopes in jeopardy. The team has two crucial matches coming up – one against India on February 23 and another on February 27. To stay in the running for the semi-finals, Pakistan will need to win both of these matches, which is a tall order but not impossible. The pressure is certainly on, and it will be interesting to see how the team responds to this challenge.