Home
Following Pakistan's elimination from the Champions Trophy 2025, former captain Ramiz Raja has raised concerns about the team's strategic decisions. The former PCB chief Ramiz Raja questioned the scheduling of their opening match, suggesting that facing Bangladesh, rather than New Zealand, would have been a more advantageous start to their campaign.
Ramiz Raja blames Champions Trophy scheduling behind Pakistan's elimination
Pakistan's hopes of reaching the semifinals were dashed after New Zealand's five-wicket win over Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on February 24. This result confirmed that both Pakistan and Bangladesh are knocked out of the Champions Trophy, regardless of their remaining match outcomes. Ramiz Raja expressed his disappointment with Pakistan's performance in the Champions Trophy. He blamed it all on the tournament scheduling and said that had Pakistan faced Bangladesh in their opening match.
"I wonder why Pakistan played their first match against New Zealand. They should have played their first match against Bangladesh. Even though Bangladesh is a strong side, it was still comparatively an easy match for them," Ramiz said in a video analysis shared on his YouTube channel, 'Ramiz Speaks', as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Pakistan's campaign got off to disastrous start as they suffered a hefty 60-run defeat against New Zealand in Karachi in the Champions Trophy 2025 opener on February 19. The jolty start immediately placed the team under immense pressure, particularly as they prepared for their highly anticipated match against their arch-rivals Team India. The weight of expectations appeared to impact their performance as they went down to a six-wicket loss to India in Dubai on February 23, which pushed them on the brink of an early elimination. New Zealand did the rest as they dashed Pakistan's only hope of getting beaten by Bangladesh. New Zealand did the opposite and hammered Bangladesh on February 24 by five wickets to end Pakistan's campaign in Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, Ramiz argued that this early defeat amplified the pressure on the Pakistani team. Raja further suggested that a different scheduling strategy, such as facing Bangladesh or even India first, might have altered the pressure dynamics and potentially led to a more favorable outcome for Pakistan.
"They played against them in the opener and lost. The defeat created pressure on Pakistan. I don't understand why Pakistan didn't play their first match against Bangladesh or India. If that happened, the pressure would be equal," Ramiz concluded.
