Ricky Ponting Analyzes Pakistan’s Early Exit from Champions Trophy 2025

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, known for his keen insight into global players, teams, and matches, has shared the reasons behind Pakistan’s early exit from the Champions Trophy 2025.

Despite entering the tournament as hosts and defending champions, Pakistan became the first team to be eliminated from the Champions Trophy 2025. Pakistan played their opening match against New Zealand in Karachi and their second match against arch-rivals India in Dubai, both of which ended in defeat.

Ponting, in a discussion regarding Pakistan’s performance, questioned whether the team was effectively utilizing the talents of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. He said, “The team’s strategy failed to capitalize on its biggest assets.” According to him, both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were unable to deliver their best performances. “These two should have stepped up and scored more runs, but they couldn’t perform well in the first two matches of the tournament,” he added.

Ponting suggested that this could be one of the main reasons behind Pakistan’s failure to reach the semifinals.

The former batting maestro also praised Indian star Virat Kohli for delivering under high-pressure situations, especially in big matches. He said, “I’ve always said that to win big matches, you need big players, and for India, the biggest contest was the match against Pakistan.” Ponting further stated, “Your reputation is built on how you perform in the biggest games on the international stage, so it’s no surprise that Kohli delivered such a performance.”