Pakistan suffered a huge blow when Saim Ayub was ruled out of the tournament with an injury. He was by far the most instrumental factor in Pakistan’s three series wins at the tail-end of last year, and to make up for that gaping hole, Pakistan have made a few tweaks that leave the side looking weaker than it was at the end of last year. The bowling, in particular, looked distinctly ordinary in every game of the recent tri-series, where they lost two of three matches Khushdil Shah and Faheem Ashraf have come into the side after prolonged absences, arguably without quite the pedigree that earns them a return, while Babar Azam has been sent up to open the batting.
Fakhar Zaman opens alongside him and has made an impressive start upon his return. But Pakistan have a soft underbelly in their lower middle order and are perhaps without the spin pedigree they need in these conditions, including, in Abrar Ahmed, just one specialist spinner in these conditions. They believe they have cover with the part-time spin of Khushdil Shah and Salman Ali Agha, but it does represent a leap of faith.
Who are their opponents?
February 19 – New Zealand
February 23 – India
February 27 – Bangladesh
Best XI
1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Saud Shakeel, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt&wk), 5 Salman Ali Agha, 6 Tayyab Tahir, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf 11 Abrar Ahmed
Reserves: Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Hasnain, Kamran Ghulam, Usman Khan
Players to watch
Babar has the star power and Fakhar the firepower, but captain Mohammad Rizwan is probably Pakistan’s best all-round batter right now. He provides much-needed stability in a somewhat makeshift middle order. Alongside Salman Ali Agha, the only other settled player in the middle, he demonstrated his value with a record-breaking partnership that sealed Pakistan’s place in the tri-series final.
On days when the top-order doesn’t fire, they will need Rizwan’s consistency to keep them competitive, and as he has shown time and again, he can shift gears up or down according to the demands of a chase. This ability to absorb pressure as well as transmit it is a delicate balancing act few others in the Pakistan side possess, and it’s likely any significant moves Pakistan make in defence of their trophy will run through their talismanic captain.
Key stats
It is eight years since this tournament’s most recent edition, and Pakistan’s squad is almost completely different to the one that romped to that title. Just two men who played that final – Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam – are in the squad this time around.
Recent ODI form
Until a week ago, all looked rosy in this format. Pakistan’s only ODI cricket came in the form of three away series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Pakistan swept the board, winning each of them and losing just two ODIs in the process. It included a dismantling of Australia in the final two ODIs, and a whitewash against South Africa.
Closer to the event at home, though, a reality check has arrived. They did hunt down their highest-ever ODI total to scrape past South Africa in a tri-series they held at home. However, they were no match for a full-strength New Zealand side twice, who eased to victory in their group stage game, and then again in the final in Karachi, where the two teams play again in the Champions Trophy opener.
Champions Trophy history
Pakistan are the defending champions, but aside from the most recent edition, have a poor Champions Trophy record. It remains the only time they made the final, and have been eliminated before the semi-finals on four of the other seven occasions. The game in 2017 that started the winning run broke a streak of six consecutive losses, and until 2017, they were the only top traditional top eight side which hadn’t made the tournament’s final.