Last Updated on 1 month by Charbel Coorey

Pakistan 2025 Champions Trophy squad: Mohammad Rizwan (c) (wk), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan (wk), Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pakistan in ODIs since the 2023 World Cup

• Matches played: 12
• Matches won: 8
• Matches lost: 4
• W/L ratio: 2.000
• Batting run rate: 5.71

Most runs for Pakistan in ODIs since the 2023 World Cup:

1. Saim Ayub (LHB): 515 runs, AVG: 64.37, SR: 105.53, 100s: 3, 50s: 1
2. Mohammad Rizwan (RHB): 435 runs, AVG: 62.14, SR: 80.25, 100s: 1, 50s: 2
3. Agha Salman (RHB): 428 runs, AVG: 53.50, SR: 97.71, 100s: 1, 50s: 1
4. Babar Azam (RHB): 290 runs, AVG: 41.42, SR: 77.54, 100s: 0, 50s: 2

Most wickets for Pakistan in ODIs since the 2023 World Cup:

1. Shaheen Afridi (left-arm pace): 21 wickets, AVG: 22.04, ECO: 5.72
2. Haris Rauf (right-arm pace): 14 wickets, AVG: 22.42, ECO: 4.94
3. Abrar Ahmed (right-arm legspin): 13 wickets, AVG: 25.30, ECO: 4.98
4. Naseem Shah (right-arm pace): 13 wickets, AVG: 36.84, ECO: 6.18

Pakistan 2025 Champions Trophy SWOT Analysis: Can Mohammad Rizwan’s team go far?

Ayub’s Absence Forces Babar Azam into Opening Role for Pakistan

Pakistan faced a significant setback when 22-year-old Saim Ayub, who played a key role in their series victories in Australia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. In his absence, Pakistan has called upon Babar Azam to open the innings.

“His [Ayub’s] absence created a huge disturbance, and we went for the safety of Babar Azam, who’s our best batter,” skipper Mohammad Rizwan said ahead of the tri-series final against New Zealand.

“At the top, if the ball swings, he can control it. When Abdullah Shafique got out early in South Africa, Babar had to deal with the new ball anyway. He was coping with the seam and swing and enabling us to attack at the end. So, we thought why not go for our most technically solid player to open, rather than throwing someone else in at the deep end.” 

Babar scored 10, 23, and 29 across three innings as an opener in the Tri-Series, with his overall average as an opener in ODIs sitting at just 17.60 (5 innings). However, there’s no reason to believe this is anything more than a result of a small sample size. Given Babar’s skill and class, there’s every reason to have confidence in him to eventually succeed.

“It’s not as if he is doing something drastically different, but he is still getting out. Luck has evaded him. I am confident he’ll come out of it”, Rizwan said.

Fakhar Zaman, recalled to the ODI side after the 2023 World Cup, will open the batting alongside Babar Azam, with Saud Shakeel expected to bat at No. 3.

Pakistan’s Batting Blueprint

One area where Pakistan has been slightly below par of late is their Powerplay batting. The top-order has failed to provide the necessary impetus up front, and while Fakhar may help a bit on this front, even his ODI career strike rate in the Powerplay is just 84.1, which rises to 100.4 in overs 11-40. Saim Ayub too struck at only 80 in the Powerplay, which then rose to 132.2 in the middle overs.

The middle overs, perhaps, are where Pakistan’s true batting strength lies. All the criticism that Babar and Rizwan face for their T20 game is actually perfect for this format. In Salman Agha, Pakistan has another batter who can pace his innings well and is a fine player of spin Though, if Babar departs early, hit-the-deck pace could pose a challenge for their middle order.

Tayyab Tahir, who averages 46.91 in List A cricket (albeit not batting at No. 6), and Khushdil Shah – who has returned to the ODI side after three years, thanks to his stellar run of form in the BPL, where he scored nearly 300 runs at a strike rate of 175.29 (which skyrocketed to around 240 in the death overs) and took 17 wickets (the most for a spinner) – complete the batting lineup.

However, quality pace, particularly if it tests their backfoot play, could well restrict the Pakistan lower order’s run-scoring.

Pace Power and Spin Deficiencies: Pakistan’s Bowling Dynamics

One of Pakistan’s key strengths in white-ball cricket has been their pace attack. Shaheen, Naseem, and Rauf each bring distinct skill sets and strengths to the table, forming a very well-rounded overall unit. Though they appeared ordinary in each match of the Tri-Series (Rauf bowled only 6.2 overs before getting injured), Pakistan would not feel too perturbed about their pace attack heading into the Champions Trophy.

Pakistan would be particularly pleased to see Haris Rauf finding form after a couple of poor years in ODIs (averaging 21.2 since 2024 compared to 35 in 2022-23 in overs 11-40). His ability to hit the deck hard at high pace will be especially useful in the middle overs, given the squad’s scarcity of spin resources.

With the exception of Abrar Ahmed, who has an experience of just seven ODIs, Pakistan have no other frontline spin options in the squad. Khushdil and Agha offer some part-time spin and may be required to combine and bowl the 10 overs of the fifth bowler, which is a high-risk strategy and could be a major loophole in their bowling attack.

Pakistan Predicted Starting XI for the 2025 Champions Trophy

1. Fakhar Zaman, 2. Babar Azam, 3. Saud Shakeel, 4. Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), 5. Salman Agha, 6. Tayyab Tahir, 7. Khushdil Shah, 8. Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9. Naseem Shah, 10. Haris Rauf, 11. Abrar Ahmed

Pakistan Champions Trophy SWOT Summary

Strengths:

• Home advantage
• Excellent all-phase pace attack
• Middle-overs batting stability

Weaknesses:

• Vulnerability of middle and lower order against high-pace and back-of-length pace
• Slow starts in the Powerplay
• Almost non-existent spin attack
• No frontline fifth bowling option

Opportunities:

• Restore ICC tournament reputation with a successful title defense  
• Chance for Abrar to establish himself as the leader of the spin attack

Threats:

• Injury-prone pacers
• History of imploding under pressure and psychological baggage of post-2017 ICC tournament failures
• Flat tracks could neutralize Pakistan’s attacking pacers

Written by Sparsh Telang. Follow on X on @_cricketsparsh