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Cricket Players'Ab kya pride? Khelo aur ghar jao': Wasim Akram scoffs at Pakistan's last Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh
Wasim Akram said there's no scope of playing for pride now that Pakistan's campaign in the Champions Trophy is over.
And with the washout in Rawalpindi, Pakistan's campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is over. Ever since they lost to New Zealand and subsequently India, Pakistan were always in doldrums. They needed Bangladesh to beat New Zealand but once the BlackCaps brushed their opponent aside, Pakistan were out of the first ICC event they hosted in 29 years. Mostly bitter. Less sweet.
The only hope Pakistan had to end the tournament on a high was a win against Bangladesh, but Rawalpindi rains denied them any respite. The theme heading into the game was 'Pakistan playing for pride', but Wasim Akram was having none of it. Akram insisted the importance of playing for 'pride', but with the Pakistan team out of the tournament with nothing to gain, this game was rendered useless by the greatest left-arm pacer to ever play the game.
"What pride? I told you not to ask me this question. Pride is when there is scope to qualify. Ab kya pride? (What pride now?) Both have to go home now – Bangladesh and Pakistan. Khelo aur ghar jao (Just play and go home now). A lot of players are asking whether they should give the benched players a go. The answer is I don't know," Akram scoffed while speaking on the show DP World Dressing Room by Ten Sports.
"You need to have ability. Of course, planning is easy. Pakistan finished 7th or 8th in both the World Test Championships, couldn't go past the league stage in the 2025 T20 World Cup, didn't qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup and now eliminated in Champions Trophy. So this is worrisome. More or less, the same players are still carrying on."
Waqar Younis disagrees with Wasim Akram
His bowling partner for many years, Waqar Younis, however, slightly disagreed, insisting that the players must play on. Pakistan haven't had the best time in the Champions Trophy or even heading into it, losing the tri-series final to New Zealand and then going down to the Kiwis once again. Pakistan now have a few days' break before the team travels to New Zealand to play five T20I and three ODIs in March-April, before which Waqar feels plenty of things need to improve.
"Yes, the tournament is over but the cricket isn't. You can’t really lose hope. There's plenty of work to be done and I'm sure after this tournament, the PCB will sit down and decide where we're going, what's missing and what needs to be done. There will be a lot of talk and hopefully, things will be back on track," the ex-Pakistan pacer said.
