Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan said that his team’s hopes of winning the Champions Trophy are now over after a heavy loss to their strong rivals India on Sunday. Pakistan, the hosts of the tournament, almost got knocked out of the semi-final race after losing by six wickets in Dubai. This was their second loss in the 50-over competition.
Pakistan’s future now depends on what happens in the match in Rawalpindi on Monday, where New Zealand will play Bangladesh.
“I would say it is over, that is the truth,” Rizwan told reporters when asked if his team had reached the end of their journey. “The next match and the results between Bangladesh and New Zealand, and New Zealand and India, will decide our fate. We depend on others now, and as a captain, I do not like this situation. If we had done well on our own, things would have been different. We accept our losses against New Zealand and India, but we do not want to just wait and watch the other results.”
Pakistan is hosting an ICC event for the first time in almost thirty years, since they co-hosted the 1996 ODI World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. However, India did not tour Pakistan and now plays its matches at the Dubai International Stadium.
Despite a good 104-run partnership between Saud Shakeel and Rizwan, Pakistan was bowled out for 241 in 49.4 overs after choosing to bat first in this key match. On a slow pitch where it was hard to score runs, India relied on Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 100 to reach the target with 45 balls to spare.
Even though some bowlers gave away too many runs, Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed performed well with figures of 1 wicket for 28 runs in his 10 overs. Rizwan said, “We are disappointed because a loss brings a tough day with many questions. Abrar Ahmed’s bowling was good, but we made mistakes in batting, bowling, and fielding.”
Khushdil Shah made 38 runs after Saud Shakeel scored 62 and Rizwan scored 46. This left the middle order in trouble. Rizwan said, “Our middle order has done well before, and scoring around 270-280 would have been good on this pitch. I tried to build a partnership and took some time, but we lost wickets and our shot selection was poor. As a result, our middle order fell apart.”
Rizwan also admitted that the same mistakes were made again, as seen in the loss against New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament. “Honestly, we made the same mistakes that we have been making for the last three or four matches,” he said. “We are working on them, but we are only human and sometimes fall short. India probably worked harder and were more brave. We were not brave enough and fell short in the field.”
Pakistan, who beat India in the final to win the last Champions Trophy in 2017, will play Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
