 "Pakistan cricket team is in danger of being eliminated from the Champions Trophy 2025. Image: Reuters")
With a defeat in the Champions Trophy 2025 opener, the Pakistan cricket team is already facing the threat of elimination from the tournament. The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is the first global event to take place in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup but the home team failed to give the fans a reason to celebrate on Wednesday as they lost to New Zealand by 60 runs in the opener.
After giving away 320 runs, Pakistan’s top order struggled to break the shackles early on as they were dismissed for just 260. In the aftermath, former Pakistan cricket great Waqar Younis launched a scathing attack on Babar Azam and the team after the team, questioning their lack of intent .
Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results | Points Table
Besides the poor strike rate of their top order batters, another major worry for the Pakistan cricket team management is that their chances of qualifying for the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals have taken a major hit.
Champions Trophy: Pakistan’s semi-final scenarios
Each Champions Trophy 2025 group consists of four teams. Pakistan’s Group A also includes India and Bangladesh besides New Zealand.
Each team will play three matches and the top two sides at the end of the round-robin stage will qualify for the semi-finals. Pakistan now only have two matches left to script a turnaround.
Their defeat to New Zealand has also dented their Net Run Rate (NRR) which is now down to -1.2 . The NRR will be used to determine the semi-finalists in case more than two teams are tied for the top two spots at the end of the group stage matches.
Currently, Pakistan are at the bottom of the Group A table in the Champions Trophy 2025 with an NRR of -1.2. New Zealand lead the table with two points and a positive NRR of +1.2.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPakistan’s next Champions Trophy 2025 match is against India on 23 February in Dubai and if the Men in Blue win that contest and one of their matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh then Pakistan will more or less be out of the tournament. After beating Pakistan, New Zealand will need to win one more out of their remaining two games to progress.
In such a scenario, both India and New Zealand will have two wins each while Pakistan can have one win, that also if they beat Bangladesh. This means Pakistan’s next game against India is a must-win match. If they lose that match, the qualification to the semi-finals will be out of their hands and they will have to depend on other results.
Why NRR is crucial for Pakistan?
Pakistan beating India, however, will still not be enough for the Men in Green to reach the semi-finals. They will need to beat Bangladesh to boost their chances and still, there’s a possibility that India may win their remaining two games and New Zealand could beat Bangladesh.
This will create a scenario in which three teams in Group A will have four points each. In such a scenario, NRR will be used to decide the top two teams and currently, Pakistan have a Net Run Rate of -1.2.
Similarly, there’s also a possibility of one team qualifying outrightly with four or six points and the other three teams being stuck on two points each with one win respectively. In such a scenario as well, NRR will be used to decide the second semi-finalist from Group A.
Pakistan now need to win their remaining matches and with a comfortable margin to qualify for the semi-finals without much fuss.
Group A Schedule:
20 February: Bangladesh vs India
23 February: Pakistan vs India
24 February: Bangladesh vs New Zealand
27 February: Pakistan vs Bangladesh
2 March: New Zealand vs India