Former Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad described the reasons for Pakistan cricket's downfall. Pakistan suffered an early exit in less than a week, even though they hosted the Champions Trophy. Mohammad Rizwan's squad lost to New Zealand by 60 runs at the start of the match before losing to India by six wickets tt the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. At Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday, the Black Caps defeated Bangladesh, captained by Najmul Hossain Shanto, by a margin of five wickets, ensuring Pakistan's elimination.
Ahmed Shehzad on Pakistan team
Shehzad, who has played in 13 Test matches, 81 ODIs, and 59 T20Is for Pakistan, blamed the decline on the system's lack of discipline, merit, and reforms.
"Political interference has always been there; there’s no doubt. But the condition of the team is not because of the last two years—this has been happening for a while now. When you don’t bring in reforms, when you don’t honour merit, and when you don’t control indiscipline in the team, sooner or later, these results will come,” Shehzad told India Today in an interview.
Shehzad on Babar
Shehzad claimed that Pakistan had previously made a mistake by selecting Babar Azam as captain purely on the basis of his international achievements. The 33-year-old also criticized the current status of domestic cricket, saying that squad selections had been influenced by a "friendship" mentality.
"It’s sad to see him in this condition. When he started his career, it seemed he would break all records for Pakistan. But now, everything is in front of you—players don’t fail for this long. It was a mistake to make a performer the captain. After becoming captain, he surrounded himself with friends and selected them for the team, disregarding merit. When you favour friends over deserving players, the wheels of domestic cricket stop turning, as genuine performers don’t get enough chances,” Shehzad added.
Shehzad further emphasized that by selecting people who are sincerely dedicated to the game's well-being and motivated by the correct goals, Pakistan cricket can turn things around.
"Pakistan cricket still has time. Bring in the right people—those who understand the roots of your country and the underlying problems—then give opportunities to the deserving. Sooner or later, players are made. Dhoni retired, Sachin Tendulkar retired, Yuvraj Singh retired—did the Indian team stop? Teams don’t stop. Players come and go, but you must have the right intentions. This performance was very poor, and Pakistan will understand this,” Shehzad added.
Pakistan will play Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 27 in their final 2025 Champions Trophy encounter.