ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan acknowledged that his team’s Champions Trophy campaign effectively ended with their six-wicket loss to India on Sunday. “For now, we can say that it’s over. This is the truth,” he said.
Although Pakistan has lost their first two group matches, they are not completely out of the tournament yet. They still need favorable outcomes from two other games before their final group match against Bangladesh on February 27. One immediate requirement is an unlikely victory for Bangladesh over New Zealand on Monday.
Rizwan expressed that he does not like advancing through indirect means. “As a captain, I honestly don’t like this. If you can win, then do it. If not, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind being on the outside,” he added. “We accept the losses to New Zealand and India. We can play well or badly, but we won’t rely on someone else to help us.”
He continued, “In the next match, we’ll see how Bangladesh plays against New Zealand, how New Zealand does against India, and what we do. It’s a long journey, but we still have hope and faith in Allah. Now, our fate in the Champions Trophy depends on other teams.” Pakistan are the defending champions.
Rizwan defends one spinner
Rizwan stood by Pakistan’s decision to field only one specialist spinner, Abrar Ahmed, rejecting any criticism. “You can’t say it was a mistake. India also have Kuldeep Yadav as their primary spinner, and Jadeja and Axar Patel are all-rounders. We have Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah, who have bowled well in the past.”
On the performance of the middle-order, Rizwan admitted it was not up to par. “The middle-order didn’t perform well. In our meeting, we discussed that 270-280 runs would be enough because the pitch and outfield were slow. If we had reached 280, the result could have been different.”
At one point, Pakistan were 151 for two, thanks to a 104-run third-wicket partnership between Rizwan and Saud Shakeel. However, once the partnership was broken, the team lost momentum and was eventually bowled out for 241.
