Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan admitted his team's shortcomings after a winless ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, expressing determination to address the issues ahead of their upcoming New Zealand tour.
Pakistan, the defending champions, endured a disappointing tournament, suffering consecutive defeats against New Zealand and India before their final group-stage fixture against Bangladesh was abandoned without a ball bowled in Rawalpindi.
The result left the hosts at the bottom of Group A, winless with just one point.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rizwan acknowledged the team's struggles, including a poor tri-nation home ODI series leading up to the Champions Trophy.
“The results have been disappointing over the last few weeks. We wanted to perform today in front of our home nation, but unfortunately, we could not meet their expectations,” Rizwan said.
The wicketkeeper-batsman emphasised the importance of learning from recent failures and improving ahead of Pakistan’s white-ball series in New Zealand next month.
“You can learn from your mistakes. We have analysed our errors in this tournament and the Tri-Nation series. By the will of Almighty Allah, we will work on them. Hopefully, we will perform better in New Zealand, as we made several mistakes against them here,” he added.
Rizwan also addressed the impact of young opener Saim Ayub’s injury, stating that it disrupted the team’s preparations but was not an excuse for their underperformance.
“When a player who has performed well in recent series gets injured, the team naturally feels the impact,” Rizwan said. “However, as a leader, you must move forward. This is not an excuse—we will learn from this experience.”
When asked about Pakistan’s bench strength, Rizwan pointed to the Champions Cup tournament while stressing the need for professionalism and game awareness to compete with the world’s top teams.
“If we want to rank among the best teams, we need to improve in several areas, including professionalism and game awareness,” he remarked. “It is disappointing. We play for the whole nation, and we must accept that we did not perform. The fans are upset, and so are we. InshaAllah, we will learn from these mistakes and improve in future tournaments.”
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