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Babar, Shaheen Suffer Backlash; 3 Reasons Why Pakistan Failed In Champions Trophy 2025

Abhinav Tyagi

Mohammad Rizwan -(AP)Mohammad Rizwan -(AP)

On Sunday, February 23, Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat against India in their 2nd Champions Trophy 2025. With the loss, the Men in Green are virtually out of the tournament, as they need a miracle to see them go through to the next round of the tournament. 

The Men in Green are under immense pressure and are facing fans' wrath over a disastrous performance. It is worth noting that Pakistan hosted an ICC event for the first time in 29 years but now stand on the brink of an early exit in just four days since the tournament began. 

Meanwhile, this article will shed light on three reasons why Pakistan suffered an early exit in the tournament. 

1. Lack Of Proper Opening Pair In The Team

Ahead of the start of the tournament, Pakistan lost Saim Ayub due to injury and dropped Abdullah Shafique from the side due to poor run with the bat. It led to PCB resorting to promote Babar Azam up the order and not play at his natural position.

Further, Fakhar Zaman, one proper opener in the team, too was ruled out of the tournament due to injury, resulting in Imam-Ul-Haq opening the innings. Opening is a different ball game altogether. 

The batters need to show intent at the start and utilise the powerplay, which was lacking in the first two matches. Babar, whose natural game is to build innings, faced flak for not adjusting to an opener's mindset and continuing with his anchor role even while chasing a target of 320 runs. 

Talking about Babar, he has played just 7 innings as an opener and amassed just 175 runs at a strike-rate of just 76, which is slower than how he batted down the order. 

Imam, on the other hand, isn't aggressive as well, he has always batted top of the order in his ODI career and never batted above a strike-rate of 90, which is concerning for any side.

Opener
Runs
Strike-Rate
Babar Azam17576
Imam-Ul-Haq314885

2. Underperforming Pace Battery In the Tournament

Pakistan have one of the finest seamers in the world. They have Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Shaheen Afridi, who have become a force to be reckoned with. Now, they have underperformed in the tournament, resulting in Pakistan's potential early exit from the competition. 

Notably, in the first match, Pakistan leaked 300+ runs and failed to stop India from chasing 243 runs in the recently concluded match at the Dubai Stadium. Further, all three seamers have taken just two wickets each in the two matches, which is question-worthy. 

3. Not Picking Quality Spinner

Before the start of the tournament, Pakistan made a big mistake as they didn't pick a quality spinner alongside Abrar Ahmed. The Men in Green should have picked the like of Sufiyan Muqeem, who was in form before the Champions Trophy 2025.

Further, stadiums in Dubai and Pakistan aren't known to assist pacers much. Thus, spinners get assistance here, and the Men in Green should have been aware of that given they are the hosts.