Harbhajan Singh Gives Brutal Reality Check To Pakistan Before IND vs PAK

Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has asserted that, ahead of the highly anticipated India-Pakistan 2025 Champions Trophy match in Dubai on February 23, the current Pakistani team is among the worst in years.

With India defeating Bangladesh handily and Pakistan losing to New Zealand by 60 runs, both teams have had quite different tournament openings.

Harbhajan Singh assesses Pakistan

In recent years, Pakistan has struggled greatly against India, losing their last five ODIs against their bitter rivals. Their most recent victory over India in the format was at the Oval during the 2017 Champions Trophy final.

Talking about the Pakistan side ahead of the highly-anticipated game against India, Harbhajan said: "Haven't seen such a Pakistan team in years. When we used to play Pakistan, there was always a feeling that the opposition could beat us because they had star players and power-packed performers, the bowling was very good and the unity showed. This (current) team may have players who can win a game on their own, but that unity isn't evident."

Harbhajan Singh pointed out that Pakistan is lacking match-winners to win a championship in this squad for the ICC Champions Trophy. He also stated that previously, they were a much-balanced side, but now India is miles ahead of them.

More talented players required

"They have individuals who can win a game on their day. But a team should have 7-8 such players who can win you the championship. I don't see that in this team. No doubt you won in 2017 when Fakhar Zaman played that big innings. But somewhere, I think, there is a lot of difference now from the days when India and Pakistan used to be nicely balanced teams. Now India is ahead of Pakistan,” he added.

Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan's hero from their most recent ODI victory over India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, will not be playing. The southpaw was eliminated from the tournament after suffering an injury during a game against New Zealand.

Shahid Afridi agrees with Harbhajan Singh; says this Pakistan team incomparable to one of the '90s

Similar to Harbhajan, former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi claimed that the current team, captained by Mohammad Rizwan, lacked reliable game-winners to compete with the best teams.

The Men in Green lost in the opening round of the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups, demonstrating their lack of success in recent ICC competitions.

"Bhajji is right. We can't compare this team with the one from the '90s. They are now short of match-winners. Like Bhajji said, you can win a match but to lift the trophy you need (consistent) match-winners. Mindset against the top team is the most important thing," said Afridi on the aforementioned program.

Pakistan has never beaten India in an ODI World Cup game and has only one win in T20 World Cups, but they have a 3-2 lead against Men in Blue in the Champions Trophy. This includes the 2017 Champions Trophy final win.

Also Read: Ex-India Batter Predicts Rohit Sharma’s Retirement After Champions Trophy 2025