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During the opening Champions Trophy 2025 match between Pakistan and New Zealand at Karachi’s National Stadium, India’s tri-colour flag was spotted flying. Earlier, a controversy erupted over the tri-colour missing at the venue prior to the start of the competition. Pakistan are co-hosting the tournament with Dubai hosting India games. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faced criticism for omitting the tri-colour as the flags of seven nations were visible. However, things changed in the first game of the tournament as the Indian flag was seen during the opening clash between the home team and the Black Caps.
Earlier on February 18, PCB strove to play down the issue as the board said the only the flags of countries who are competing in Pakistan were raised at the stadiums. Commenting on the issue, PCB remarked, "As you know, India is not coming to Pakistan to play its matches during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025; the National Stadium in Karachi Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore have hoisted flags of countries that are going to play at the said venues. I don't think PCB needs to even give an official statement on this. It's clear that the controversy is made without facts and aims to damage host Pakistan's image with fake news.”
Pakistan are in backfoot in the opening game
Pakistan started positively in the maiden match against New Zealand after winning the toss. After removing dangerous Devon Conway and Kane Williamson in quick succession, Pakistan lost the momentum as Will Young and Tom Latham gave a tough time to the Men in Green. Riding on scintillating innings from Young (107 off 113) and Latham (unbeaten 118 off 104), the 2000 title winners notched up 320 runs on the board for the loss of five wickets.
Pakistan’s fast-bowling trio looked completely helpless against New Zealand’s batting powerhouse. Haris Rauf was the most-expensive bowler for the defending champions, splurging 83 runs and picking up two wickets in his 10 overs while Shaheen Shah Afridi gave away 68 runs and also failed to cause damage to the opponents in his 10-over spell. Naseem Shah bagged two wickets but couldn’t contain the flow of runs as he also got beaten for 63 runs in his 10 overs.
