 "Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis chide Pakistan after Champions Trophy setback: 'Nothing to learn'")
The legendary pace duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis came down heavily on the Pakistan cricket team after they finished their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign without a single win and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results | Points Table
The Champions Trophy 2025 is the first ICC tournament Pakistan has hosted since the 1996 World Cup, but they weren’t able to give any happy memories to their fans, as they lost the opener to New Zealand in Karachi and their last group match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Thursday was washed out .
Their only other match, against India, also ended in a defeat, but it was played in Dubai under a hybrid model.
Wasim Akram: ‘Bad tournament for Pakistan’
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was extremely critical of Pakistan’s performance, saying that there’s nothing to learn for the team from an underwhelming performance where they defied all the expectations.
“Unfortunately, bad tournament for Bangladesh. Most importantly for Pakistan, the host country, nothing to be learnt from this performance,” Akram said on DP World Dressing Room show. “I am sure players, management, coach itself must be worried and down and rightly so. The performance wasn’t good, but the expectations were high.
“The way Pakistan entered the tournament, after winning bilateral ODI series in Australia and South Africa, after that you didn’t qualify (for semi-finals), lot of questions to be answered to the public. Winning and losing is part of it (game) but not the way Pakistan lost.”
Waqar Younis, who was part of the same show, added that Pakistan will need to make changes to their team to start playing cricket that is more aligned with the demands of modern-day cricket.
“We are emotional. Everyone is hurting, they are not gonna take anything. I have been through this a couple of times. I know the coach is hurting and the board is hurting, but you have to swallow this tough pill and move on. Changes in the team are inevitable if you have to change cricket as per modern-day cricket…if you don’t change your approach, players, then changes will be in the team,” he said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWith an ICC tournament returning to Pakistan after a long gap of 29 years, there were high expectations among the local fans, however, an early exit from the Champions Trophy 2025 has proved to be a massive disappointment for the nation.
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