Watch: Shoaib Akhtar holds 'brainless management' responsible for thumping loss to India in Dubai

Pakistan suffered a six-wicket defeat against India in Match 5 of the ongoing Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, February 23. The hosts of the marquee ODI tournament were bundled out for a meagre 241 after opting to bat first. In contrast, they could only secure four of India's wickets as the latter romped home with ease.

Former Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Akhtar, was amongst the first prominent former cricketers to dissect the game. Akhtar shared that he had expected a similar result to what eventually played out due to the think tank's strategic ineptness and the players' inability to match up to the level of the opposition.   

"All of you are saying that I must be disappointed. I'm not disappointed at all because I knew what is going to transpire. You are not even picking five bowlers, while India are playing six bowlers. You don't even assemble five bowlers. You are selecting all-rounders, I don't know what you are thinking. It's just a brainless, clueless management they have," shared Akhtar on his official X account.

Shoaib Akhtar@shoaib100mph

I'm not disappointed at all.

10:25 PM · Feb 23, 2025

26K2K

"I'm really disappointed. What do we even say about the kids? The kids are the same as the management. Even the players don't know what they are expected to do. Intent is another aspect, they don't know their skill-set," he added. 

"They don't possess any skill-set. They will play uppish shots like Rohit, Virat, and Shubman. Really disappointed. Neither the team knows, nor the management. They have simply travelled to play anyhow. No one knows what to do. Once again, really disappointed," the Rawalpindi Express concluded.  

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With their most-recent debacle, Pakistan have lost both their Champions Trophy 2025 games so far. They will now not only have to win their final group-stage match against Bangladesh by a resounding margin, but also have to bank on other results to go their way to have any hopes of making it to the knockouts.