Courtesy: Google/BCCI
Ajay Jadeja, the former Indian cricketer, felt disappointed about the lack of competitive spirit from Pakistan cricket team during their one-sided loss by six wickets against their arch-rivals India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A clash. After the Indian cricket team dominated Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, February 23, the 54-year-old stated that while he was happy about India’s win, it felt like the cricket lost due to the lack of quality of the overall game.
Notably, Pakistan were bowled out for just 241 runs in 49.4 overs after a batting display which lacked intent for the majority of the innings, except for the few lusty blows from Khushdil Shah in the death overs. Saud Shakeel got himself to a fifty, and shared a third wicket stand of 104 runs with captain Mohammad Rizwan, but these two batters weren’t looking for boundaries for most of their innings.
In the run chase, Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, scored fiery 20 runs in just 15 balls with a few boundaries, to showcase the sense of urgency from the first power play stage, which is the need of the hour in modern ODI cricket. The likes of Shubman Gill (46 off 52) and Shreyas Iyer (56 off 67) were quite exceptional while batting alongside Virat Kohli, who brought up his 82nd international hundred, and taking India past the finishing line with 45 balls to spare.
Pakistan didn’t even win a moment in the match: Ajay Jadeja
During a live post-match show called “Dressing Room” on Pakistan’s Ten Sports channel, recorded in Dubai, Ajay Jadeja commented on the outcome of the IND-PAK clash. He was quoted as saying, as per Indian Express, “I am happy for India but cricket lost. I am a bit disappointed with the overall game. Pakistan didn’t even win a moment in the match. Pakistan don’t have.…skills we used to associate with them in the past.”
In their next match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, India will be taking on New Zealand on March 2 in Dubai, while Pakistan will go head-to-head against Bangladesh on February 27 in Rawalpindi.
