Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif took an indirect dig at cricket legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis following their sharp criticism of Mohammad Rizwan’s team after Pakistan’s disappointing group-stage exit from the Champions Trophy. As the host nation, Pakistan failed to win a single match in the tournament, ending their campaign early.
While legendary Pakistani players, including Akram and Younis, ripped into the current side’s showing following their ICC CT 2025 exit, former captain Rashid Latif warned the legendary pacers to stay away from the side.
Pakistan’s dismal show in the Champions Trophy 2025 enraged former cricketers and Pakistani ex players across the globe
Hosting an ICC event after 29 years and entering into the tournament as the defending champions, Pakistan was one of the favorites of the experts to go all the way into the tournament. However, they were met with a rude shock when they lost their opening game of the tournament by 60 runs.
Pakistan would be further jolted back when their arch-rivals India beat them by six wickets, which saw them languishing at the bottom of the Group A table. New Zealand’s win over Bangladesh in their next game sealed Pakistan’s fate for the tournament. Their last game of the tournament was a damp squib with the match being abandoned due to rain.
Pakistan, who won the ODI World Cup in 1992 had to wait seventeen years for their next title as they clinched the 2009 T20 WC, entered ICC CT 2025 as defending champions, but were unlucky to finish the tournament without wins as they fumbled in their opener against New Zealand, before a defeat to India in Dubai. Their final fixture against Bangladesh was washed out, leaving them winless and out of the competition.
The Pakistan cricket team had to endure an embarrassing result at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, partly on home soil, as they concluded the tournament without a single win. And while legendary Pakistani players, including Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, ripped into the current side’s showing following their exit, former skipper Rashid Latif warned the legendary pacers to stay away from the side.
Rashid Latif lashes out at former Pakistan cricketers from the 1990s after Pakistan team’s dismal show in Champions Trophy 2025
Former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif tore into former Pakistan pacers Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram in a recent media interaction. The wicketkeeper-batter went on a rampage against the two and expressed his dissatisfaction with the views presented by them.
Both Waqar and Akram are a part of the show, “Dressing Room” which is being hosted by Fakhr-e-Alam in Dubai. The show has garnered a lot of eyeballs with mixed reactions from fans and various experts. Most recently, pacer Mohammad Amir also said that some comments made by Wasim on the panel weren’t in good taste.
In an interaction with Geo News on “Harna Mana Hai”, Rashid Latif talked about the two pacers and their views on Pakistan cricket. He said (via Hindustan Times):
“It took 17 years [for Pakistan to win another World Cup] because the 90s players did not spare Pakistan cricket. Keep 90s players away from management and from the team as well then they will try to win. They have been serving Pakistan cricket for so long now. So, I think they should rest now.”
Rashid Latif also mockingly called the two “Dubai ke launde” and added:
“Yeh Dubai ke laundon ne tabahi pehla diya hai. Dono ek dusre ke taarifen kar kar ke khush ho raha hai. Zindagi bhar ladte rahe, hume aag me phek diya aur kamal log hai. Inke aage paisa phenko, yeh kuch bhi kardenge. (These boys from Dubai have wreaked havoc. Both of them are being happy by praising each other. They fought their entire lives and threw us into the fire. You give them money and they will do anything).”
Following their early exit, Pakistan will return to action later this month with a New Zealand tour featuring five T20Is and three ODIs starting March 16. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has significantly changed the T20I squad, dropping Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam. Salman Agha has been appointed captain in the shortest format, with Shadab Khan as vice-captain. However, the ODI squad remains mostly unchanged, except for the absence of Shaheen Afridi, with Rizwan retaining his role and Babar keeping his place.
The Pakistan Cricket Team are slated to travel to New Zealand for three ODIs and five T20Is between the sides under the leadership of new skipper Salman Ali Agha set to begin on the 16th of the month. The Men in Green will next take on New Zealand in a white ball series. The tour involved five T20Is and three ODIs with Agha Salman leading them in the T20Is.