Home
Mohammad Rizwan has admitted that Pakistan's Champions Trophy 2025 campaign has ended following six-wicket hammering against India at the Dubai International stadium on February 23, Sunday. Technically Pakistan still have an outside chance to qualify for Champions Trophy semifinal. Sitting at the bottom of Group A with a negative net run rate of -1.087, Pakistan has suffered back-to-back defeats, first against New Zealand by 60 runs and then against India by six wickets in Dubai.
Mohammad Rizwan concedes Pakistan's elimination from Champions Trophy
For Pakistan to progress, they must secure a win in their final group stage match against Bangladesh on February 27 and hope for a series of favorable results from other matches, beginning with a Bangladesh win over New Zealand on February 24 in Rawalpindi. However, Pakistan captain Rizwan doesn't want to rely on external factors for their success, indicating a realistic assessment of their situation. In the post-match press conference, Rizwan said for now Pakistan's campaign is over and that's the truth.
"For now, we can say it’s over—that’s the truth. We have to see what Bangladesh does against New Zealand and how New Zealand performs against India, but it’s a long shot,” Rizwan said in the post-match press conference.
“Our fate is no longer in our hands. As a captain, I don’t like relying on these things. If we can win, we should do it on our own terms, without depending on others. I don’t care about other results. We accept that India and New Zealand beat us, and we didn’t play well,” Rizwan added.
Talking about the match, choosing to bat first, Pakistan were folded for 241 runs in 49.4 overs despite Saud Shakeel's gritty 62. Rizwan also contributed with 77-ball 46. In reply, India rode on Virat Kohli's masterful century to chase down the target without breaking a sweat, completing the run chase with 45 balls remaining. Virat Kohli cracked an unbeaten 100 runs off 111 balls and brought his 51st ODI ton. Shaheen Shah Afridi, despite taking two wickets, had a difficult outing, conceding runs at a rate exceeding nine per over.
This win propelled India to the top of Group A with four points and a net run rate of +0.647. India's final group stage match will be against New Zealand on March 2 in Dubai.
Here's how Pakistan can still make it to Champions Trophy semifinal
Pakistan's path to the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals is a far-fetched dream. In order to make it to top four, firstly, they must secure a victory against Bangladesh in their final group stage match. Secondly, they need both India and Bangladesh to defeat New Zealand, thereby maintaining their own qualification hopes. If New Zealand loses to both India and Bangladesh, and Pakistan triumphs over Bangladesh, all three teams will be tied on points. In this scenario, the team with the most favorable net run rate will advance alongside India.
However, Pakistan's current net run rate is significantly poor, necessitating a big win over Bangladesh and hoping for heavy defeats for New Zealand against both India and Bangladesh. These conditions are exceptionally difficult to fulfill. Therefore, while Pakistan is not officially eliminated from the tournament, their qualification is highly improbable and would require a series of unexpected outcomes.
