Champions Trophy 2025: Javed Miandad questions Pakistan players 'passion' after an early exit

Following an early exit from the Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan have been receiving severe criticism and facing heavy scrutiny from former cricketers for their lacklustre performances in the tournament. 

Pakistan were already on the verge of group stage exit after their two consecutive losses against New Zealand and India. Pakistan had to rely on the results of the Group A match between New Zealand and Bangladesh to stay in contention. However, New Zealand’s second successive win in the tournament sealed Pakistan’s fate and thus, they are officially out of the Champions Trophy 2025 as the defending champions.

Pakistan’s early exit from the Champions Trophy 2025 as the defending champions became a topic of debate, given the fact that they are the hosts of the tournament with a hybrid model in place. Former Pakistan cricketers, including Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez lambasted the team for their performance in the tournament. Javed Miandad became the latest to criticize Pakistan by questioning players’ professionalism.

Speaking to Press Trust of India (PTI), Javed Miandad stated that it is of no use blaming the team management and selectors for Pakistan’s failure to perform in big stage while questioning the players passion and commitment to the game. 

“It is useless blaming the system, selectors and all that.” former Pakistan batting legend said. 

"Question is, are these selected players short on anything? Does not the PCB take care of them? Are they not paid enough? So where is the passion and fire and professionalism to perform in big matches and tournaments." he added.

This is for the third consecutive time Pakistan faced an early exit from an ICC tournament. The Men in Green led by Babar Azam finished sixth in the league stage of the 2023 ODI World Cup and thus, failed to qualify for the semifinal of the tournament. In the T20 World Cup last year, Pakistan knocked out of the tournament after failing to qualify for the semifinal. Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan lost the ODI tri-series final against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi. The two consecutive defeats in the group stage of the Champions Trophy has further added to Pakistan’s woes of inconsistency and underperformance in major ICC tournaments.

Javed Miandad believes that Pakistan players were under pressure before their clash against India in Dubai. He further added that none of the batters were in a mood to take on the Indian bowling attack. 

“Truth is our players were under pressure even before the match began. Look at their body language, not one of them appeared to be in a mood to dominate Indian bowlers.” Miandad added.

The clash against India was crucial for Mohammad Rizwan-led to keep their hopes of defending their Champions Trophy triumph alive. Indian bowlers and batters were too strong for Pakistan, as they handed a comprehensive 6-wicket defeat, further denting their chances of qualifying for the semifinal. Virat Kohli’s unbeaten innings of 100 off 107 balls, alongside vital contributions from Shreyas Iyer (56) and Shubman Gill (42), helped India chase down 242-run target in 42.3 overs. Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja played crucial roles in bundling out Pakistan for 241 in 49.4 overs.

Pakistan are hosting an ICC tournament for the first time in 29 years. The last time the country hosted an ICC event was in the 1996 ODI World Cup, where they were co-hosted alongside India and Sri Lanka. However, the excitement among the fans was short-lived as Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament just five days after the Champions Trophy began. Pakistan will play their last match of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on February 27, Thursday.