After enduring back-to-back losses to New Zealand and India, defending champions Pakistan’s run in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy is almost over, and their fate now rests on the results of other team’s matches. Acknowledging his team’s struggles, Pakistan captain Mohammed Rizwan candidly admitted the shortcomings.

“For now, we can say that it’s over. This is the truth,” Rizwan said in the post-match press conference, acknowledging that Pakistan’s qualification is now out of their hands.

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Despite still having a mathematical chance, Rizwan made it clear that he does not believe in progressing through the back door.

“As a captain, I honestly don’t like this. If you can win, then do it. If you can’t, then don’t worry about it. I don’t care if you are sitting in someone else’s shadow,” he said. “Yes, New Zealand has defeated us; India has defeated us. We accept it,” he said.

Pakistan are the hosts and defending champions, but now need a series of results to go their way. Their final group match is against Bangladesh on Thursday, but their hopes hinge on an unlikely Bangladesh win over New Zealand on Monday.

If Bangladesh fail to beat New Zealand, Pakistan will officially be eliminated even before playing their final group game. As a result, their title defence now rests on unlikely outcomes, making this one of their most disappointing Champions Trophy campaigns.

“In the next match, we’ll see what Bangladesh does with New Zealand, what New Zealand does with India, and what we do. It’s a long journey. Yes, we have hope and belief in Allah. Our dependence on the Champions Trophy has now come on other teams,” Rizwan said.

Pakistan’s bowling combination was questioned after they played with just one specialist spinner, Abrar Ahmed, while India used three spinners in their XI. However, Rizwan defended the decision.

“You can’t say that we made a mistake by picking just one spinner. If you look at that Indian team, they have Kuldeep (Yadav) as the front-line spinner. (Ravindra) Jadeja and Axar Patel are all-rounders. We also have Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah. They bowled very well in the past,” he explained.

Pakistan were 151 for two at one stage, thanks to a 104-run partnership between Rizwan (46) and Saud Shakeel (62). However, a middle-order collapse saw them bowled out for 241.

“The middle order was not good enough. Yesterday in our meeting we had discussed that on this pitch 270-280 runs would be enough. Because the outfield was slow and the pitch was slow. If we had scored 280, maybe the results would be different,” Rizwan admitted.

He also criticised shot selection, saying: “Me and Saud tried to build a partnership and took a lot of time. But after that, the shot selection was poor and that’s where they got a chance to take our wickets. After that, our middle order couldn’t take the pressure and we couldn’t manage.”

India, led by Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 100 off 111 balls, comfortably chased the target in 42.3 overs, securing a semi-final berth. Pakistan’s bowlers failed to trouble India’s batting lineup, highlighting their struggles in the tournament.