Ponting, Akram doubtful of Pakistan’s victory in ICC Champions Trophy

WEB DESK: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has predicted that the final match of the ICC Champions Trophy will be between Australia and India.

Ponting said that the Pakistani team will be a challenge for both teams. However, he said that there are quality players in the Australian and Indian teams, adding that the recent history of both these teams and their performance in the previous ICC events makes everything clear.

The former Australian captain said that India and Australia cannot be ignored as finalist teams. He said that Pakistan, too, is currently playing some good cricket and their ODI cricket has been excellent for some time as well. Pakistan has improved some things a lot.

Nonetheless, he said that not much can be predicted about Pakistan in a big tournament.

WASIM AKRAM’S ASSESSMENT CONCURS

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is also of the opinion that while he wishes to see Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy but it won’t be an easy task.

He also raised questions about the inclusion of all-rounders Faheem Ashraf and Khushdil Khan in the national cricket team squad for the upcoming tournament.

The former skipper called all-rounder Faheem Ashraf’s inclusion to have come ‘out of the blue’. He said that in the first 20 matches, his bowling average was 100 and his batting average was just 9, adding that this type of performance makes predicting his future performance uncertain.

Akram also said that cricket teams around the world have increased the number of spinners due to the pitches of the subcontinent, but Pakistan has only included one spinner – Abrar Ahmedi – in the squad.

On the other hand, former cricketers Tanvir Ahmed, Kamran Akmal and Basit Ali have also raised question marks over the return of all-rounders Faheem Ashraf and Khushdil Shah.

PAKISTAN’S SQUAD

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the 15-player squad for ICC Champions Trophy, under Muhammad Rizwan’s captaincy and Salman Ali Agha’s vice captaincy.

The batters include Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, and Tayyab Tahir, along with all-rounders Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, and Agha. Rizwan will be the wicket-keeper batsman along with Usman Khan.

Spinner Abrar Ahmed will be joined by fast bowlers Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.