NEW DELHI: Hosts and defending champions Pakistan crashed out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in the group stage after back-to-back defeats against New Zealand and India. While their campaign officially ends with a final match against Bangladesh, former women’s team captain Sana Mir believes Pakistan’s fate was sealed before the tournament even began — when they announced their squad.
Speaking on PTV Sports, Mir was direct in her criticism. “I got a message from a friend when we were watching the match [against India]. When the second wicket fell at 100, my friend said, ‘I think it’s over.’ I told my friend, ‘No, it was over when we announced the squad.’ We had lost more than half of the tournament the day we picked these 15 players.”
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She argued that even the greatest captains wouldn’t have been able to turn things around with this squad. “You could make MS Dhoni or Younis Khan the captain — none of them could do anything with this team. It’s not suited to our conditions. Like Hafeez bhai said, one match was bound to be in Dubai. So how did we go in with just two part-time spinners? Abrar is still new to ODIs, and he has taken only two wickets in the last five months.”
Mir also questioned the selection process, citing Mohammad Haris’s omission. “We talk about intent, and that boy plays with intent. But you drop him after he fails in West Indies matches. What incentive does he have to play freely when selection is based on averages?”
Pakistan’s squad selection saw last-minute uncertainty, with Saim Ayub ruled out due to injury and Fakhar Zaman sidelined after the first game. Their much-hyped pace attack of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf looked rusty, while Pakistan’s decision to rely on part-time spinners backfired.
Mir warned that Pakistan’s system needs a complete overhaul. “Too much power is not good, and too little power is not good either. If we keep making the same mistakes, nothing will change. Unfortunately whenever there has been a change in PCB, one person will come and say how domestic things should be. The people below him do not say anything, and nothing changes.”
