The defending champions and hosts Pakistan were eliminated from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy following Bangladesh’s defeat against New Zealand on Monday. The Men in Green lost their opening 2 matches of the tournament to New Zealand and India respectively and crashed out of the tournament.
Following the comprehensive defeat against arch-rivals India, former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria suggested that PCB should adopt a strict approach to achieve the desired results.
“I hope PCB doesn’t make the mistake that happened in Lahore when India’s national anthem was mistakenly played (during the Australia vs England match). The PCB’s job is to give strict orders to ensure that they stay away from all distractions and focus on improving their cricket,” Kaneria told IANS.
“They should give a one-year timeframe to the selectors, coach, and captain, saying, ‘We need results.’. If they don’t deliver within a year, they should step down themselves. A more strict approach will be needed-friendship and camaraderie won’t get the job done,” Kaneria added.
He further said that Pakistan needs all-rounders like Hardik Pandya and a spinner like Kuldeep Yadav, who performed brilliantly against the Men in Green on Sunday, picking up 3 wickets.
“I think Pakistan needs two strong all-rounders: a fast-bowling all-rounder like Hardik Pandya, and they also need good left-arm spinners. The way Kuldeep Yadav got Salman Agha out, without him even realizing it was a googly, highlights the importance of skilled spinners,” Kaneria said.
The former spinner also urged PCB to have a direct conversation with Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan about his captaincy and decide for how long will they continue with him in the role.
“The PCB needs to be strict to get the desired results. India also introduced strict guidelines after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and the players delivered. Similarly, PCB needs to work on their tactics and the selection committee. They need to be blunt with Rizwan about his role as captain – how long will they continue with him as captain? They also need to identify Babar Azam’s role and communicate it clearly to him,” Kaneria said.
“One thing that the team needs to do, if they can, is to address the issue if Rizwan is not comfortable as captain and feels it’s affecting his performance. If that’s the case, I think the next person to consider for the role should be Fakhar Zaman. There are many things the PCB needs to do for the betterment of the Pakistan cricket team,” Kaneria added.
