Pakistan legend Afridi disagrees with Akram's call for '5-6 big changes': 'Do we have players who will replace them?'

Pakistan’s disappointing Champions Trophy campaign had sent the cricket-mad nation into a meltdown, with legendary cricketers such as Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar ripping the Mohammad Rizwan-led team apart for their first-round exit from the tournament.

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Following their six-wicket loss against arch-rivals India, pace legend Akram had suggested a complete overhaul for the Men in Green by making “five-six big changes”, hinting at dropping core players including Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Afridi questions Pakistan’s domestic talent pool

Legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi, however, disagreed with Akram’s comments, stating that Pakistan did not have enough players of that standard in the domestic circuit to replace star players at such a short notice.

“We can remove 6-7 players but do we have 6-7 players who will replace them. Do you have players of such standard in your domestic cricket? Have we groomed them in academies? It will be back to the same — we can remove players but who will be bring in?” Afridi told Pakistani news channel Samaa TV.

“When we bring in them, we will have to train them and then we will say before the World Cup that we are preparing and when the tournament will be over, we will say we need a surgery. We will remain stuck in this,” Afridi added.

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Pakistan had entered the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy as hosts as well as defending champions, having defeated India in the final of the 2017 edition at The Oval in London. Rizwan and Co, however, suffered back-to-back defeats against New Zealand and India in Karachi and Dubai respectively. Their title defence officially came to an end after the Black Caps defeated Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Monday.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh signed off from the 2025 Champions Trophy without a win after their Group A clash on Thursday was washed out without a ball bowled .