"Cricket will be destroyed when...": Imran Khan laments Pakistan's early exit from Champions Trophy

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 26 (ANI): Following the team's exit from the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, World Cup-winning captain and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his disappointment and said that cricket will be "destroyed" if "favourites" are put in decision-making positions.
Hosts Pakistan, which got the opportunity to host an ICC tournament after a long gap of 29 years, was knocked out of the tournament in a matter of just 5 days, leaving the fans and supporters of the team massively disappointed.
"Imran says cricket will be eventually destroyed when favourites are put in decision-making positions," Aleema Khan, sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, told reporters, as quoted by Geo News.
Pakistan's dreadful run in the ICC events continued after the defending champions lost two games on the trot in the group stage against New Zealand and India.
The Men in Green needed a favour from Bangladesh to stage a victory over New Zealand. However, on Monday, the relentless Kiwis took the Tigers down with a five-wicket win in Rawalpindi to seal their trip to the semi-finals with India.
Imran Khan also raised questions about the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Mohsin Naqvi and said that whenever he comes to power, he makes a "mess" of it.
"Imran Khan said that no one in Pakistan has as many positions as Mohsin Naqvi has. When Naqvi was appointed [Punjab] Chief Minister, he committed injustices. He is appointed interior minister, he again committed injustices. Whichever position he is appointed, he makes a mess of it," Aleema Khan said as quoted by The Express Tribune.
"Imran Khan said that a respectable man would resign after such a poor performance but this could not happen," she added.
Pakistan's last group-stage match of Champions Trophy 2025 is against Bangladesh at the National Stadium in Rawalpindi. This match would be a dead rubber as both teams have already been knocked out of the tournament.
This is not the first time that the Mohammed Rizwan-led side has played such disappointing cricket in the mega-events. They were not able to perform in the last two ICC events as well. In last year's T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States, the Pakistan Cricket Team was knocked out of the tournament after two consecutive losses in the group stage against the United States and then against arch-rivals India.
In the 2023 Men's ODI World Cup in India, the Men in Green were able to win just four out of the nine matches. They finished the tournament at fifth position with just eight points, again failing to make it to the knockouts. (ANI)