Ricky Ponting: “They haven’t been able to give their best back to their team. Those two guys had to stand up, they had to make big runs, and they haven’t been able to do it”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting has called out Pakistan ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan and batsman Babar Azam for failing to “make big runs” and give their best in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ponting noted that the men in green needed the duo to stand up and lead by example with the bat.
However, Azam made 87 runs in two games at an average of 43.50, while Rizwan finished with 49 runs at an average of 24.50.
Ponting attributed their lack of runs as one of the key reasons why Pakistan failed to make it to the Champions Trophy semi-finals.
“They haven’t been able to give their best back to their team. Those two guys had to stand up, they had to make big runs, and they haven’t been able to do it,” he said on The ICC Review.
Pakistan crashed out in the group stage of the Champions Trophy after losing to New Zealand and India.
Their final game against Bangladesh was washed out, meaning they went winless throughout the tournament.
The men in green will now tour New Zealand for a white-ball series, which will comprise five T20Is and three ODIs that will be held from March 16 to April 5.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir