Pakan PM Shehbaz Sharif: ‘Real task now is to not only win Champions Trophy but also beat India in Dubai’ | Cricket News

Pakan Prime Miner Shehbaz Sharif said that Mohammad Rizwan-led team’s real task is not only to win the Champions Trophy but also beat India in Dubai on February 23. Pakan are the host of the Champions Trophy. India refused to send their team to Pakan for the Champions Trophy. The recent tense relations between the two cricket boards has spiced up the February 23 match.
“We have a very good side and they have done well in recent times but the real task now is to not only win the Champions Trophy but also defeat our arch-rival, India in the upcoming match in Dubai. The entire nation stands behind them,” Sharif said at the inauguration ceremony of the renovated and upgraded Gaddafi stadium.
Pakan are also the defending champions. They have defeated India in the final in 2017. Pakan’s last win in an ICC event against India came in 2021 when they won in Dubai in the T20 World Cup.
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“It is a big occasion for Pakan that we are hosting a big ICC event after nearly 29 years,” Sharif said.
“I have full confidence that our team will continue to make the nation proud in the upcoming Champions Trophy.”
The Pakan Cricket Board has upgraded three stadiums — at Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi — for the Champions Trophy.
It’s a busy time for Pakan cricket. The 35,000-capacity Gaddafi stadium has been upgraded in less than four months for the country’s first major ICC tournament in 29 years when it will host the eight-nation Champions Trophy, starting February 19.Story continues below this ad
Archrival India is the only participating team which will not travel to Pakan for the Champions Trophy. Instead, India will play all its games in Dubai, including the marquee group match between Pakan and India on February 23. The March 9 final will also be played at Dubai if India is one of the teams.