New Opening Pair And..? Pakistan's 3 Biggest Concerns For Champions Trophy 2025

Abhinav Tyagi

Babar And Fakhar- (Source:@Farid/X.com)Babar And Fakhar- (Source:@Farid/X.com)

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Pakistan will host the Champions Trophy 2025 from February 19, which is less than two weeks away. Notably, the Men in Green were the last team to submit their 15-member squad as they waited for Saim Ayub, but the opener failed to recover in time.

Nonetheless, the hosts have started preparing for the upcoming event and are also touted as the favourites for the competition as they are the hosts and are familiar with the conditions. However, despite being the favourites, Pakistan too have a few concerns and this article will highlight that. 

1.No Fixed Opening Pair

As mentioned earlier, Pakistan dealt a heavy blow ahead of the tournament as opener Saim Ayub was ruled out of the tournament because of an ankle injury, creating a void in the opening slot. Further, Abdullah Shafique, who was opening the innings with Ayub for most of 2024, also failed to find a place in the team because of his poor run with the bat.

Now going into the Champions Trophy, Pakistan have lost both of their regular openers and have to go with a new opening pair. Talking about Fakhar Zaman, he hasn't played for Pakistan for a long time and he is yet to get an update on his opening partner.

2. Lack Of Quality All-rounder

Unlike other teams, Pakistan selectors opted for a different strategy while selecting the squad. They went ahead with more specialised batters and bowlers than having too many all-round options in the team.

Shedding light on the squad, they do have the likes of Usman Khan, Faheem Ashraf, and Khushdil Shah as surprise entries into the team, but also left out the likes of Aamer Jamal and Shadab Khan, who could have provided that balance in the middle-order with their all-round abilities.

3. Lack Of Back-Up For Abrar Ahmed

Surprisingly, Pakistan left out Sufiyan Muqeem from the squad, despite the spinner doing well. Rather, they went with Abrar Ahmed, who shone against South Africa. However, the Men in Green only have Ahmed as specialised spinner in the team and lack depth in that area.

Not having a back-up spin option for Abrar can be a cause of concern for Pakistan going into the Champions Trophy.