Published: Feb 22, 2025, 11:51 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 22, 2025, 11:51 AM (IST)
Pakistan is in a do-or-die situation following their 60-run defeat against New Zealand in the opening match of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Their next match is against arch-rivals India on Sunday, February 23.
The Men in Green practiced for three hours at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium ahead of the marquee clash. Star batter Babar Azam faced all the bowlers for a minimum of two overs each.
Pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, who are expected to play a crucial role in the match against India, too bowled over seven overs each.
Ahead of the clash, former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi took a massive dig on Mohammad Rizwan’s side, saying that India have more match-winners in their team than Pakistan.
“If we talk about match-winners, I’d say that India has more match-winners compared to Pakistan. A match-winner is someone who knows how to win the game single-handedly. Right now, we don’t have such players in Pakistan. India’s strength lies in its middle and lower order, which has been winning them matches,” Afridi said on JioHotstar.
“For a long time, we have been giving opportunities to players, but no one has stepped up consistently. Some have performed in a few games, but we don’t have players who have sustained their performance for a year, two years, or across 50-60 matches,” Afridi added.
“That’s where we are a little weaker compared to India, which is very strong in this area. But the key to winning against India is collective performance-whether it’s the batsmen, bowlers, or spinners-everyone’s contribution is crucial,” Afridi further added.
Pakistan have had the upper hand against India in their last 5 encounters in the Champions Trophy. Their wins came in 2004 in the United Kingdom, 2009 in South Africa and in 2017 final at The Oval in London.
