Pakistan will play New Zealand in the first match of the Champions Trophy on Wednesday, February 19, at the National Stadium in Karachi. The hosts come into the competition on the back of a 5-wicket defeat to the same side in the final of a tri-nation series, which also included South Africa. Pakistan batted first at that venue just days after captaining over 350 against South Africa in Karachi, only to be allowed to score under 250 as the Black Caps rammed the required runs without breaking sweat.
This is not just an eye-opener for the Mohammad Rizwan-captained side but also re-emphasizes the unpredictability of the nation.
While discussing the Pakistan cricket team on his Youtube channel, former India batter Aakash Chopra, compared their team to the country itself, the connection being their inconsistency
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“Pakistan is a team where the weakness is not new. Weakness has historically existed. Yes, they are the defending champions in the Champions Trophy, however, they do falter under pressure. It’s true that they lost to the USA in the last ICC event (2024 T20 World Cup), making them non-qualifiers for the second round,” Chopra said.
However, Chopra said that Pakistan will feel the heat due to horrid results in the recent ICC events, that adds to more pressure this time at the Champions Trophy.
“They are inconsistent. Their graph goes up and down; they are rarely flat lined. They are probably true to their country; even that country goes up and down. Just like that is the case with their cricket team. They are quite volatile. Pakistan is an unpredictable side. Their middle name is ‘unpredictable.’ So that’s where imploding under pressure is, along with that unpredictability bit, those would be two issues. Can Pakistan overcome that? That would be my question mark because they will be under pressure,” he added.
It is to be noted that Sarfaraz Khan himself lifted the Champions Trophy title for Pakistan in 2017. Looking at the current squad, he feels that this one is all the more stronger than his championship side.
“This team is very strong, and home matches definitely work,” said Sarfaraz. “They know their grounds so well that it’s an important one on its own measure. If compared with this team, I think this current team looks stronger paper-wise considering the 2017 Champions Trophy-winning team,” Sarfaraz told Cricket Pakistan.
As for their present achievements, “Babar Azam is a world-class player now. Fasher Zaman, who was a newcomer back then, has become a much more experienced player. Back in 2017, Babar was still in his infancy stage whereas he is now the top batsman in Pakistan at the international level; moreover, Fakhar is now another top player,” Sarfaraz said.