Kamran Akmal, a former wicketkeeper-batter from Pakistan, condemned his country’s poor performances in the just finished 50-over competition. Additionally, he thought that the summit clash’s post-match ceremony was a humiliating experience for the host country’s officials.
For Pakistan, the 2025 Champions Trophy was an unforgettable experience. They lost by 60 runs in their opening group-stage encounter with New Zealand, the tournament’s curtain-raiser. Pakistan’s suffering was exacerbated by a crushing six-wicket loss to India, their bitter rivals. Due to bad weather, their match against Bangladesh in the league phase was cancelled. In the end, Pakistan lost the ICC event they were hosting for the first time in 29 years.
When D teams visit our nation and play with our full squads, we are unable to defeat them. Only when your team performs well and wins can you feel good and gain respect. (Relating to the post-match scenes following the final) The [post-match] ceremony was embarrassing. We are unable to do this as our goal was to organise the event, which we accomplished and it was a success. However, playing superb cricket also earns you respect. People are making fun of us since we placed eighth. No one talked about Pakistan or how well the event was held there during the ceremony, Kamran said on his YouTube account.
Because we didn’t deserve it, the chairwoman didn’t show up: Kamran
By exploring the events at the previously described post-match ceremony in further detail, the former cricket player vented his frustration.
“The Champions Trophy final is over, but the ICC and World Cricket have shown us the mirror because of our performance and the fact that we were not represented at the ceremony. The tournament director was there and could have attended the event, but the chairwoman was absent and ill. Why didn’t he show up? We didn’t deserve him to come, therefore he didn’t. For the past five or six years, we have performed poorly given the style we have played,” Kamran continued.
Next up for Pakistan is a three-ODI and five-T20I tour of New Zealand. The start date of the white-ball series is set for Sunday, March 16.
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