Sunil Gavaskar questions Pakistan’s depth, claims even India B could challenge them

Pakistan’s disappointing campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has drawn sharp criticism, with former India captain Sunil Gavaskar questioning the team’s lack of depth. After suffering defeats to New Zealand and India, the Men in Green were eliminated from the tournament, failing to make it past the group stage. Gavaskar went as far as to claim that even an India B team would be tough for Pakistan to beat in their current form.

Pakistan first suffered a 60-run defeat to New Zealand in their opening match before falling to India by six wickets. The back-to-back losses, combined with Bangladesh’s failure to beat New Zealand, confirmed Pakistan’s elimination just six days into the competition. Gavaskar expressed surprise at the team's inability to develop young talent, especially given their history of producing world-class players.

"Pakistan can’t beat India B?" Gavaskar's blunt assessment

“I think a B team certainly (can give Pakistan a run for their money). C team, I am not too sure. But a B team will be very, very hard to beat for Pakistan in their current form,” Gavaskar said on Sports Today.

Pakistan was missing Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub, but their struggles extended beyond individual absences. Gavaskar pointed out that Pakistan's once-renowned natural talent pool appears to have diminished over the years.

“I think it’s surprising—this lack of bench strength. Pakistan always had natural talent. Natural in the sense that they may not have always been technically correct, but they had an instinctive understanding of bat and ball. Look at Inzamam-ul-Haq, for example. If you look at his stance, you wouldn’t recommend that to a young batter, but he had great temperament. With that kind of temperament, he made up for any technical shortcomings,” he said.

Gavaskar further emphasized that Pakistan’s inability to groom young stars is shocking, especially considering the existence of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and domestic white-ball tournaments.

“It’s surprising that Pakistan have not been able to produce such talents. They also have the Pakistan Super League. How has India produced so many young stars in white-ball cricket? It’s because of the IPL. Players from there have gone on to play in the Ranji Trophy and eventually for India. That is something Pakistan cricket must analyze. They need to figure out why they no longer have the bench strength they once did,” Gavaskar stated.

Pakistan will conclude their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh, but with nothing left to play for, their early exit has already sparked serious concerns about the future of Pakistan cricket.

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