Legendary Pakistan pace bowling trio of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar have lambasted the Mohammad Rizwan-led Pakistan cricket team after their
six-wicket defeat to India in the Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Labelled as the world’s biggest sporting rivalry, the Indian vs Pakistan match hardly matched the hype it created due to another disappointing performance from Pakistan, who had lost the first match of the tournament by 60 runs to New Zealand. The Men in Green are now i
n danger of getting eliminated before playing their final group match of Champions Trophy 2025.

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Batting first in Dubai, Pakistan struggled to find any momentum as they were bowled out for just 241. Only five fours were scored between overs 10 and 30, highlighting the negative and
ineffective batting of Pakistan batters against disciplined Indian bowling.

India had no such issues as
Virat Kohli made 100 not out to put the Men in Blue on the brink of qualification to the semi-finals.

Pakistan experts struggle to explain Pakistan’s problems

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram slammed the team’s negative batting approach, stating that the game was over in the first inning itself. “India hit 11 boundaries in the first 10 overs. Pakistan hit 11 boundaries in first 20 overs,” Akram said on the show ‘DP World Dressing Room’. “The match was over there only. The team they (selectors) have picked, I don’t know what they were thinking. Thinking Khushdil Shah and Salman Ali Agha can dismiss good players.”

On the same show, Waqar Younis concurred with Akram and said that Pakistan didn’t have enough runs on the board to put up a challenge against India. He failed to explain where things went wrong with the Pakistan cricket team.

“We like batting first. But there weren’t enough runs on the board and when you don’t score enough runs then this is what happens,” Younis said. “You over-try things. There’s a need for discipline in bowling. Indian bowlers were disciplined. We didn’t have enough discipline in our bowling.

“It’s hard to explain what happened. Today Babar was looking good. Once he got out, Rizwan went in, first ball, bang, a four. The intent was there, it seemed like we would put up a good score. I honestly don’t know what happened after. I don’t think anybody knows what happened.”

Shoaib Akhtar says Pakistan’s loss is no surprise

In a separate video on social media, Shoaib Akhtar said he was well aware in advance that Pakistan was going to lose to India. He blamed “clueless management” for Pakistan’s poor performance.

I’m not disappointed at all. pic.twitter.com/Hmc38V03KJ

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) February 23, 2025

“I am not disappointed at all (by the defeat to India) because I knew what would happen. You can’t select five bowlers, the whole world is playing six bowlers… you go with two all-rounders but this is just brainless and clueless management. I am really disappointed,” Akhtar said on X.

“We can’t blame the kids (Pakistan players); The players are just as the team management is! They don’t know what to do. The intent is a different thing, they don’t have the skillsets like Rohit, Virat, and Shubman. Neither they know anything, nor the management. They have just gone to play without any clear direction. No one knows what they should do,” Akhtar added.

Pakistan’s chances of reaching the Champions Trophy 2025 are completely reliant on New Zealand. If the Kiwis beat Bangladesh on Monday then Pakistan will be knocked out.