Champions Trophy: Can Pakistan Still Qualify?

Following a painful six-wicket loss against arch-rivals India here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Pakistan lost their second straight ICC Men’s Champions Trophy.

Pakistan could only gather 241 runs before being knocked out in the last over when batting first. Thanks to a brilliant century by their ace hitter Virat Kohli, India responded by softly chasing down the goal for the loss of four wickets and 45 balls.

Pakistan’s prospects to qualify for the Champions Trophy 2025 have gotten dire with two losses in as many games, but the holders are still not mathematically out of the tournament.

Now reliant on the results of all three remaining Group A games are the team led by Muhammad Rizwan.

First, Pakistan would want Bangladesh to beat New Zealand on February 24 and then would have to defeat the Asian side by a great margin on February 27 in an attempt to raise their net run rate apart from gaining two vital points.

The green shirts would then aim for India to completely thrash New Zealand so that the Blackcaps also wind up with two points and an inferior net run rate.

• February 24: New Zealand vs Bangldaesh — Bangladesh win
• February 27: Pakistan vs Bangladesh — Pakistan win
• March 2: India vs New Zealand — India win

If New Zealand beats Bangladesh on Monday, though, Pakistan along with Bangladesh will be mathematically eliminated from the eight-team competition, while India and the Blackcaps would be the first two teams to advance to the last four.

Further complicating matters, a washout in any of the above named installations will eliminate Pakistan’s hopes of making the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final qualifying cut.

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