Islamabad, Feb 27: The Pakistan cricket team’s depressing, dismal, and cheerless performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, resulting in its early exit from the tournament, has not only broken the hearts of home fans but also knocked on the doors of the country’s Prime Minister.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has personally taken notice of the team’s early departure and the below-par performance and is likely to take up the issues related to the cricket team in the cabinet and the parliament. Pakistan’s final Group A fixture against Bangladesh was washed out in Rawalpindi due to rain on Thursday, which meant that they ended their campaign without a win. With only one point, thanks to a washout, Pakistan will finish at the bottom of the group.

Prime Minister’s aide on Political and Public Affairs, Rana Sanaullah, has said that PM Shehbaz will also take up the matter at the parliament. “The Prime Minister will personally take notice, and we will also ask him to raise these cricket-related issues in the cabinet as well as in the parliament,” said Rana Sanaullah.

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan is hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Special arrangements have been made to glorify the event, with Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi cricket stadiums renovated to increase audience capacity and further enhance the facilities. However, the team’s fans were left dejected after Pakistan lost both its matches and was knocked out of the tournament when their final league match with Bangladesh was rained off.

While anger persists among cricket fans, questions are being raised over the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), its chief Mohsin Naqvi, and the selection committee, which selected the squad. Aqib Javed, head coach of Pakistan, has tried to justify the team selection, stating that all players were selected on the basis of their recent performances.

On the other hand, internal issues within the PCB are also being linked with the team’s bad performance as many believe that the cricket board’s decision-making regarding playing eleven, the team, and the players has prompted foreign coaches like Jason Gillespie to part ways.

Rana Sanaullah said that he will also call on PM Sharif to address the ongoing issues within the PCB, emphasising that the cricket sport as a whole is in bad shape. “The sport at college and district levels is in a bad position, and the amount that has been spent on a professional level should be revealed before the public”, said Rana Sanaullah.

Rana Sanaullah also raised concerns over amounts being paid to mentors, who he highlighted admitted that they were unaware of their responsibilities and were being remunerated for doing nothing. “You will be surprised after hearing about the perks and privileges of other officer-bearers. You will be confused whether they are officials of a Pakistani institution or those belonging to a developed nation”, he said.

It would not be wrong to say that Pakistan’s performance on home grounds has certainly left fans heartbroken. In major ICC events, Pakistan’s performance in the past years has also not been mentionable.

In 2023, Pakistan only won four out of nine matches during the ODI World Cup in India and ended in fifth position on the points table. Pakistan also made an early exit from last year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA after losing to India and the USA in the preliminary stage.

New Delhi, Feb 27: Delhi Capitals (DC) have announced that former England captain Kevin Pietersen will be the side’s mentor for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise made the announcement via their fan engagement app on Thursday.

Pietersen joins the DC coaching staff comprising head coach Hemang Badani, director of cricket Venugopal Rao, bowling coach Munaf Patel and assistant coach Matthew Mott. This will be the first time Pietersen will take up a support staff role with a cricket team, especially with his post-playing career comprising mainly of commentary stints, including in the IPL.

Pietersen had turned out for DC, then called Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2012 and 2014, amassing 305 and 294 runs respectively. He even captained the franchise in 17 games, with DC finishing at the bottom of the points table after winning just two wins in 14 matches in 2014.

A veteran of 200 T20s with 5,695 runs, Pietersen appeared in 36 IPL matches scoring 1001 runs across his stints with the Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and the Pune franchise. The South African-born player, who captained England between 2008-2009, won the Player of the Series award for his remarkable performance in the 2010 ICC T20 World Cup, which helped England secure their maiden ICC trophy.

In his illustrious international career, Pietersen played 104 Tests, scoring 8,181 runs, and 136 ODIs, amassing 4,440 runs.

Interestingly, when the GMR Group acquired a 100 per cent stake in owning the Hampshire County Cricket Club, the team Pietersen played from 2005-10, for close to 120 million pound in September last year, it came to light that he was the one who played a part in the deal to happen, due to him being mutual friends with GMR chairman Kiran Kumar Grandhi, and Rod Bransgrove, the chair of club’s parent company.

Parth Jindal, Co-owner of Delhi Capitals, said, “KP was arguably one of the best modern-day batters, and having him in our team is a valuable addition. We look forward to seeing him apply his knowledge and help our players drive towards our objectives. My best wishes to him in this new role.”

Earlier this week, Delhi Capitals also announced the appointment of renowned and highly successful coach Matthew Mott as their assistant coach. Mott coached the England men’s team to victory in the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup and previously spent seven record-breaking years with Australia’s women’s team. His tenure included two T20 World Cup titles, one ODI World Cup, four Ashes series wins, and a remarkable record 26-match winning streak in ODIs.

DC is one of the two teams alongside defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders who are yet to name their captain for IPL 2025.

Lahore, Feb 27: Head Coach Trott lauded Afghanistan’s win over England in the Champions Trophy to keep their semifinal hopes alive but wants his team to immediately shift their focus to the Australia showdown, where a win will seal their place in the knockouts.

Ibrahim Zadran’s scintillating 177, followed by Azmatullah Omarzai’s five-wicket haul, helped Afghanistan land a knockout blow to England with an eight-run win in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Having shocked the world after reaching the semis in last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Jonathan Trott’s side are now just one win away from reaching the final four yet again.

“I’m going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they enjoy tonight, (but) wake up tomorrow ready for Australia. As soon as they wake up tomorrow, the focus is on Australia,” Trott told the media after their nail-biting victory over England.

Afghanistan’s upcoming match against Australia is now, effectively, a quarterfinal, with the winner gaining undeniable semifinal qualification and the loser packing their bags. But, the head coach admitted that Afghanistan needs to be well prepared, as the Aussies are not going to take his side lightly.

“Australia aren’t going to take us lightly. So, we’ve got to be prepared. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. But in this format, in these conditions, I don’t see that.

“Since I’ve been coach we’ve played against Australia three times and we’ve been in the game each of those games. So, we should take a lot of confidence from that. And I think certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan’s never going to be taken lightly ever again.

“I see every game that we play is going to be competitive, and every game we go into I expect to win,” Trott added.

Chasing 326 in what was a must-win game for both teams in Group B, England had been reduced to 313/9 at the end of the penultimate over. Then, Omarzai, who earlier trapped the big fish Joe Root (120) who was keeping England in the hunt for a mammoth total, removed Adil Rashid in the final over to close a memorable win for the Afghans.

“There’s a resilience to them. I think if you add to some cricketing experience and cricketing match awareness with regards to batting in particular, with regards to how you pace the innings… it’s not always down to one person.

“We saw Ibrahim, the way that he’s done today; we’ve seen Gurbaz do it in the past… We have Gulbadin at eight at the moment, who can come in and change games. So that self-belief is important and it starts within, but it’s also quite infectious and it spreads within the squad,” the Afghanistan coach said.

Afghanistan will take on Australia on Friday in a must-win encounter at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.