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Rohit Sharma's Team India emerged victorious in the Champions Trophy 2025 clash against their arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International stadium on February 23. However, despite Men in Blue's dominant six-wicket over Pakistan, former India's star batter Ajay Jadeja isn't a happy man, especially how the highly-anticipated match unfolded. Ajay Jadeja apparently is not satisfied with the overall quality of the contest despite a whole lot of buzz. Despite India comfortably chased down Pakistan's modest target of 242 runs riding on Virat Kohli's masterful century, Jadeja felt the match lacked the anticipated competitiveness.
Ajay Jadeja not happy despite India's win over Pakistan
Speaking on 'The DP World Dressing Room Show' on Ten Sports, the 54-year-old shared his mixed feelings about the match, which is dubbed as the 'mother of all battles'. While he was proud of his India's performance, he was ultimately disappointed with the lop-sided encounter. He expected to witness a closely contested match, but Pakistan failed to put up a fight which probably left Jadeja disappointed. Jadeja bluntly concluded that, in his honest opinion, "there was no match," stressing on the absence of a genuine contest between the two arch-rivals.
"Except toss, what did you win? You didn't even win hearts. Yes, you can win and lose games, but even in defeats, there comes a moment where you win hearts, Pakistan couldn't even do that today," Jadeja said.
In addition to his overall assessment of the match, Jadeja also directed specific criticism towards Pakistan batters' flop show. He drew everyone's attention towards Pakistani batters' high percentage of dot balls and their sluggish scoring rate. Pakistan's approach lacked the necessary aggression and stability while batting which is why they failed to post a competitive total on the board.
"India lost just 4 wickets. Look at the last 4 wickets. For the first wicket, you beat the batter (Shaheen clean bowling Rohit). The second (Shubman Gill) was a ball that spun viciously. The third one (Shreyas Iyer) required an excellent catch. And the fourth (Hardik Pandya) was the only bouncer in the innings. These 4 balls are the only good things that happened to Pakistan. I am sorry I am rubbing it in," Jadeja further stated.
Pakistan stare at early elimination from Champions Trophy
Pakistan's semifinals chances look like a far-fetched dream, especially after their back-to-back defeats in their first two games against New Zealand and India respectively. Pakistan will have to first notch a commanding win over Bangladesh on February 27, a necessary but insufficient condition for advancement. Crucially, they also require that neither New Zealand nor Bangladesh achieve two or more wins in the remaining group matches.
The outcome of the match between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Rawalpindi on February 24 will apparently decide Pakistan's fate in the tournament. New Zealand's win over Bangladesh will definitively eliminate Pakistan from the tournament, confirming India and New Zealand's progression to the semi-finals, and also ending Bangladesh's campaign.
Conversely, a Bangladesh win over New Zealand on February 24 would keep Pakistan's hopes alive. Should Pakistan then defeat Bangladesh on February 27, their fate would hinge on the result of the India versus New Zealand match on March 2nd. A win for India would create a three-way tie between New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, all with two points. In this scenario, the team with the superior net run rate would clinch the remaining semi-final spot from Group A, alongside India.
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