Champions Trophy: Pak has skills to bounce back, won’t repeat mistakes of NZ clash, says Wahab Riaz

New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) Pakistan players missed a trick or two in their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand earlier this week and will not repeat the same mistakes against archrivals India in the crucial clash on Sunday, the country’s former fast bowler Wahab Riaz has said.

Riaz on Saturday ruled out listing India as the favourites in the high-pressure, high-intensity much-anticipated clash and said Mohammad Rizwan’s side has the skills to bounce back in the Champions Trophy, It is a do-or-die clash for Pakistan as a defeat against India will virtually rule them out of the race for the semifinals.

“Being cautious (in the last match) was good, but one has to play to the situation. Obviously, there are two new balls that will swing and you can lose wickets but one has to calculate and build an innings. You need a good start in the first ten overs and then the middle order can take it forward from there. They missed a trick in the last match, but I do not think they will repeat it in the match against India,” JioHotstar expert Wahab Riaz said ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster encounter.

Riaz did concede that injuries and lack of consistency have been an issue for the team for the last many years.

“We have not been very consistent and we have not played many ODIs recently. We have played more T20s and injuries are a reality. Fakhar Zaman was ill earlier and he got a side strain in the first match. Saim Ayub got ruled out before the tournament due to an injury. It does affect the team combination but they have included Imam-ul-Haq and Kamran Ghulam. We will have to see how the team management uses them,” he added.

The Rohit Sharma-led side defeated Bangladesh by six wickets in their opening match on Wednesday and will look to continue the winning run against Pakistan on Sunday to seal the semis spot.

–IANS

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