Mohammed Rizwan further spoke that his team's balance was disturbed in the absence of Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman. Following the defeats against India and New Zealand, Pakistan ended their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign at the bottom of the Group A table with only one point
Mohammed Rizwan (Pic: File Pic)
Pakistan skipper Mohammed Rizwan expressed disappointment following his side's exit from the Champions Trophy 2025, which is being hosted in Pakistan itself.
With Pakistan's last Champions Trophy 2025 group-stage match ending in a washout against Bangladesh, their campaign has ended at the bottom of the table.
Following the defeats against India and New Zealand, Pakistan ended their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign at the bottom of the Group A table with only one point.
Mohammed Rizwan further spoke that his team's balance was disturbed in the absence of Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman.
"We wanted to do well and perform well in front of our nation. The expectations are very high. We didn't perform well, and it is disappointing for us," Rizwan said as quoted by ICC.
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"The guy who has been performing for the last few months in Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe... the team was combined and then suddenly when someone is injured, the team will be disturbed," he added about Saim Ayub's injury.
"As a captain, you can look forward to that as well. One side you can say that the team is disturbed, but this is no excuse. Yes, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub were injured, but we will learn from this," Rizwan explained.
Ayub, who starred in Pakistan's ODI series wins in Australia and South Africa last year, was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining an ankle injury during the Proteas Test series.
Zaman, on the other hand, was part of Pakistan's squad at the start of the tournament but was ruled out after picking an oblique muscle strain in the opener against New Zealand.
When asked if he was satisfied with the bench strength, Mohammed Rizwan said that there should be room for improvements.
"We want improvements in different things. If we want to improve, and for Pakistan to have a high standard, we need awareness and professionalism. We see that in the Champions Cup, but we need more improvement," the 32-year-old noted.
Pakistan will next tour New Zealand for a five-match T20I and three-ODI series, starting March 16. Moving forward to what's next in store for them, Rizwan conceded the focus was at coming back strong against the Black Caps.
"We have made mistakes in the last few games. Hopefully, we can learn from these. We are next going to New Zealand and hopefully we can perform there and the mistakes that we made against New Zealand here in Pakistan, we can learn from that. And we will do better in New Zealand," the wicketkeeper-batter concluded.
(With ANI Inputs)
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