Is Pakistan a genuine contender for the Champions Trophy?

As the ICC Champions Trophy returns after an eight-year hiatus, defending champions from 2017, Pakistan would be playing in home conditions. Contesting in the marquee event, Pakistan has been placed in Group A along with Bangladesh, New Zealand and India.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Pakistan’s chances in the Champions Trophy.

Pros:

Form in One-Day Internationals in 2024

Pakistan’s form in the limited overs format has been excellent in 2024. They beat both South Africa and Australia away in the ODI Series beating South Africa by 3-0 and Australia by 2-1. Pakistan also won the ODI series 2-1 against Zimbabwe away. In the 50-over format, Pakistan has a balanced side with top class batters and bowlers in their ranks. Babar Azam tops the ODI ranking for batters and their pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi is currently ranked second in the ODI rankings for bowlers. Their fast bowling is well-equipped with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah who can be a major threat for any batsman in the world. 

The ongoing tri-series at home against South Africa and New Zealand can also act as a decent preparation for the Champions Trophy. 

Home Conditions can give them a great advantage

Since the Champions Trophy is being hosted by Pakistan, their knowledge of the pitches and the conditions is definitely a big bonus for the hosts. Their matches will be played at Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi except for the one against India which will be played in Dubai. Pitches in Pakistan normally produce a lot of runs and with Pakistan batters in decent form, they could use the home advantage to win games. 

Since Pakistan is hosting a marquee event after a long time, the excitement amongst the fans will be on another level. The stadiums will see a massive turnout which could be a big advantage for the hosts and can push them to victories. 

Depleted sides turning up for the Champions Trophy

Injuries to important players in opposition teams can also favour the Pakistan team. Even though Pakistan will be missing their most in-form top order batter in Saim Ayub, other teams have been hit badly with injuries. Australia for instance will miss their pace bowling attack with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc and also the talismanic allrounder Mitchell Marsh. South Africa is going to miss Anrich Nortje and India will miss their most important player in Jasprit Bumrah with Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav coming off a long injury layoff. New Zealand might also be without pacer Lockie Ferguson. 

Facing a depleted opposition could definitely favour the home side as beating them would be slightly easier.

Cons:

Over-dependence on the Top order batting

Pakistan’s problems could be with their over- dependence on the likes of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan in batting. Most of the time, if one of them doesn’t anchor the innings, Pakistan’s middle order has lost the way. Only Salman Agha in that middle order has provided some stability on a consistent basis. The loss of their most in-form batter in Saim Ayub could be a massive loss for Pakistan and replacing him at the top of the order isn’t going to be easy as he has been their top scorer in the ODI’s in 2024.

Lack of an experienced and quality spin bowling attack

As we all know that the pitches in the sub-continent favour spin bowling a lot. Therefore, having quality spin bowlers is a must for all teams as spinners can decide matches in the Indian sub-continent. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not possess an experienced spin bowling attack. Their spin attack will consist of Abrar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah and Salman Agha. A relatively inexperienced Abrar Ahmed will be leading the attack with Shah and Agha in supporting cast. If their fast bowling doesn’t get the early scalps, this spin bowling attack will certainly look weak especially in front of world-class batters well-equipped to play spin.

The inability of their spin bowlers to take wickets in the middle overs can be problematic for an otherwise strong Pakistan side. 

Conclusion:

Pakistan definitely has the firepower to beat any opposition and playing in front of a raucous home crowd could massively boost their confidence. Having said that, they aren’t the strongest contenders for the trophy but if they can get through the group stage against strong oppositions in India and New Zealand, they have a great chance to go all the way and defend their title from 2017.