Even MS Dhoni couldn't have done anything with Rizwan's team: Ex-Pakistan captain Sana Mir

Defending champions and hosts Pakistan have been knocked out of the Champions Trophy 2025, having suffered back-to-back defeats to New Zealand and India. Amid all the criticism coming the way of the Men in Green, former Pakistan women's skipper Sana Mir said that legends like Younis Khan and MS Dhoni couldn't have helped the men's team from getting knocked out of the tournament in home conditions.

Mohammad Rizwan’s side sits at the bottom of the table with a net run rate of -1.087 after losing both matches. They were eliminated after New Zealand beat Bangladesh by five wickets on Monday, February 24. Mir, who led the national team in 65 T20Is and 72 ODIs from 2009 to 2017, said that Pakistan had to take account of the possible playing conditions before picking the squad.

"The 15 that have been selected, even if you make MS Dhoni or Younis Khan captain, nobody can do anything to the team because it has not been selected on the basis of the playing conditions," Mir said on the 'Game On Hai' programme.

Half the tournament we had lost when we announced the 15-member squad: Mir

Furthermore, Sana Mir pointed out that Pakistan's chances of retaining the Champions Trophy title took a beating when they announced their squad. Against India, the Green Shirts had only one specialist spinner in Abrar Ahmed and this didn't sit well with Mir.

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"I was watching the match when I got a message from a friend that India are 100 for 2 'I think it's over'. So, I said the match was over when the squad was announced," the former Pakistan women's skipper added.

"Half the tournament we had lost when we announced the 15-member squad, and I am saying this from day one. They knew that Pakistan had to play at least one match in Dubai, so how did you bring two part-time spinners,” Mir concluded.