Pakistan’s captain, Mohammad Rizwan, has acknowledged that their campaign in the Champions Trophy is effectively over following their six-wicket loss to India on Sunday. “Right now, we can say it’s over. That’s the reality,” Rizwan stated.

Despite losing their first two group-stage matches, Pakistan are not completely out of contention yet. They still require a few favorable outcomes in other games before their final group match against Bangladesh on February 27. An essential result they need is an unlikely victory for Bangladesh over New Zealand on Monday.

Rizwan made it clear that he doesn’t like advancing through indirect means. “As a captain, I genuinely don’t prefer this. If you can win, then do it. If not, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind whether we’re in the tournament or not. Yes, New Zealand beat us; India beat us. We accept that. We can play well or badly, but we can’t rely on others. If Allah has made this opportunity available, we can’t do anything about it.”

He continued, “For the next match, we’ll see how Bangladesh fares against New Zealand, what New Zealand does against India, and how we perform. It’s a long journey. Yes, we still have hope and belief in Allah. Now, our future in the Champions Trophy depends on other teams.” Pakistan are the defending champions.

Rizwan defended Pakistan’s choice of playing only one specialist spinner, Abrar Ahmed, dismissing any criticism. In contrast, India came to the tournament with four spinners, three of whom were included in their playing XI on Sunday.

“You can’t say picking just one spinner was a mistake. If you look at India’s team, they have Kuldeep (Yadav) as their primary spinner. (Ravindra) Jadeja and Axar Patel are all-rounders. We also have Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah, who have bowled well in the past.”

Rizwan also admitted that their middle-order batting didn’t deliver. “The middle order wasn’t up to the mark. In our meeting yesterday, we discussed that 270-280 runs would be enough on this pitch, as it was slow and the outfield was slow. If we had reached 280, the result might have been different.”

He added, “Saud Shakeel (62) and I (46) tried to build a partnership, but after we were separated, our shot selection was poor, and that allowed them to take wickets. After that, our middle order struggled under pressure, and we couldn’t manage.”

At one point, Pakistan were 151 for 2, thanks to a 104-run third-wicket partnership between Rizwan and Shakeel. However, once they were dismissed, the team lost momentum and were eventually all out for 241.

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