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Pakistan’s batters stand out after India, Bangladesh and New Zealand’s batters put on impressive performances after the first round of games in Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Pakistan remains the only side to not have a centurion after the first round of games in Group A. (Image: AP)
After the first round of fixtures in Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan’s batters stand out, putting in the most disappointing performance so far. Bangladesh, who are arguably the most inexperienced side, managed to put in a more fighting performance when going against a dominant Indian bowling attack.
India, New Zealand and Bangladesh have batters who have shown resilience, and class despite the odds as the likes of Shubman Gill, Will Young, Tom Latham and Towhid Hridoy reached the triple-figure mark while Pakistan’s batting looked far from their best.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who opened the innings, looked like he was in for the long haul but ultimately failed to pick up the scoring rate as the tournament hosts suffered an embarrassing defeat by 60 runs to the Kiwis.
New Zealand also showed their resilience after star batters like Devon Conway and Kane Williamson were dismissed cheaply. Young and Latham took the game away in the middle and death overs. This also includes a quickfire fifty by Glenn Phillips that saw the Kiwis mount a 300+ score.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh a side that was expected to be blown away by a star-studded Indian team, showcased much more fight than Pakistan did in their respective fixtures. From 35/5, a 150+ partnership with Hridoy and Jaker Ali saw their side mount a respectable total of 228.
India, who were expected to take the win, may not have sailed as smoothly. Nonetheless, Shubman Gill showcased his game awareness, taking his time in the slower conditions in Dubai as he stayed till the end to secure a century and a big win for the Men in Blue by six wickets.
Babar’s inability to pick up the pace certainly played a role in their defeat. But in addition to this, some poor calls by the management also cost the team badly. Sending in Fakhar Zaman when he was clearly in pain and lacked the physical ability to run between the wickets, due to his injury, was a bad call taken by Rizwan and the team management. It looked like Pakistan wanted some quick runs without any major losses and thought sending the left-hander in would be the right move, but clearly that backfired.
With Fakhar’s injury, Imam-ul-Haq has been brought in as his replacement and Pakistan will hope that their top-order can get back to scoring big runs to avoid an embarrassing exit from the Champions Trophy on home soil.
