(From Naveen Abeyratne in Rawalpindi)
Rain played the spoil again in Lahore as Pakistan’s Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh was washed off on Thursday. The match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain. Thus, the host nation of the tournament was pushed to the bottom of the points table.
The sad fact is that Pakistan was the defending champions of the tournament for eight years. They beat India at London Oval in 2017 Champions Trophy finals.
Pakistan didn’t have a good tournament at all.
Having won the rights to host a top-level ICC tournament, almost after three decades, they lost the opening game of the tournament to New Zealand. Then, Pakistan lost to arch-rivals India by six wickets. Pakistan hopes were lying on Rawalpindi to beat Bangladesh and keep their heads high but all hopes vanished in rainy waters.
Even Bangladesh pride was at stake without a single win to their credit. However, Bangladesh international ranking was way down in comparison to Pakistan. In the International ODI rankings, Pakistan placed at third while Bangladesh struggling at ninths place.
“Expectations were very high but we didn’t perform well and it is disappointing for us,”
“We are upset and we are accepting that we didn’t do well. Hopefully we will do more hard work and come back.” Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan revealed his sour heart.
Najmul Hossain Shanto was disappointed too, because they too didn’t have to feel the taste of a win but gained a single point by default.
“We really wanted to play this match but can’t do anything about the weather,” Shanto said. However, Bangladesh managed to stay ahead of Pakistan due to net run rate.
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