Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the Pakistan cricket team’s performance in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
“Imran says cricket will be eventually destroyed when favourites are put in decision-making positions,” said Aleema Khan, sister of PTI founder, while speaking to journalists outside Adiala jail.
The remarks come against the backdrop of Green Shirt’s early exit from the mega-event — the first International Cricket Council (ICC) event hosted by the country in 29 years.
The defending champions lost the opening match against New Zealand, who beat them twice in the recently held tri-nation ODI series which also featured South Africa.
Despite fans’ expectations for the home team to perform well, the Mohammad Rizwan-led side failed to put up a notable performance and subsequently lost against arch-rivals India on February 23 in Dubai.
With back-to-back losses, the Men in Green’s progression in the Champions Trophy depended on the outcomes of other teams’ matches.
However, this door was effectively closed after New Zealand beat Bangladesh on Monday resulting in the hosts, also the defending champions, being eliminated from the tournament. The team will now face Bangladesh at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on February 27.
This isn’t the first mega-tournament that Pakistan have performed poorly at. The national side, in 2023, only managed to win four out of their nine matches and finished in fifth position on the points table with eight points in the ODI World Cup 2023.
The Green Shirts then also crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 which saw them losing to India as well as the United States.
Speaking to journalists today, Aleema said Imran watched the Pakistan’s match against the arch-rivals and vented his anger on cricket’s destruction in the country.
“PTI founder expressed great sadness over losing the match against India,” he said, adding that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi should be asked what his cricket experience is.
Separately, PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja also echoed Imran’s disappointment with the Pakistan team’s performance, saying that the party founder is “very sad” about the condition of national cricket.
“The people of Pakistan have a strong connection with cricket,” he said, adding that this sport has been made a joke in the last few years.
Earlier in the day, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub called for Naqvi to be held accountable and demanded his removal as the PCB head over “repeated failures”.
