MIXED YEAR: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Saim Ayub be part of their team-mates to rejoice a wicket. Picture: PCB
KARACHI:
If 2025 had a single defining theme for Pakistan cricket, it was imbalance. The senior males’s aspect hovered between promise and frustration, hardly ever horrible however seldom convincing, whereas the nation’s youthful groups delivered trophies, perception and a way of path that the current usually lacked.
Throughout codecs, Pakistan performed eight Assessments, 23 ODIs and 29 T20Is in 2025. The uncooked numbers inform a combined story: one Check win, three defeats and 4 attracts; 11 ODI wins towards 11 losses with one no-result; and 17 T20I victories from 29 matches, lots of them in bilateral sequence that did little to settle larger questions.
Assessments: management at house, vulnerability overseas
Pakistan’s Check 12 months started in acquainted discomfort. A tour of South Africa resulted in a 2–0 sequence defeat, with Ryan Rickelton’s monumental 259 dominating the second Check and exposing Pakistan’s ongoing struggles away from Asia. Saim Ayub’s harm throughout that sequence compounded the frustration and disrupted Pakistan’s red-ball planning for months.
Again house, situations provided consolation however not full management. Towards West Indies, Pakistan leaned absolutely into spin-friendly pitches. Sajid Khan’s nine-wicket match haul sealed a 127-run win within the first Check, however Jomel Warrican turned the tables within the second, taking 9 wickets and guiding West Indies to a 120-run victory. The 1–1 draw meant Pakistan ended the 12 months with no Check sequence win.
Late within the 12 months, Pakistan started their WTC 2025–27 marketing campaign with a house sequence towards South Africa. They gained the primary Check convincingly earlier than settling for a draw within the second — progress, maybe, however nonetheless in need of authority.
ODIs: flashes of brilliance, heavy setbacks
Pakistan’s ODI 12 months could be cut up neatly in two. Early optimism arrived throughout a house tri-series towards South Africa and New Zealand. After shedding to New Zealand, Pakistan produced one in all their best chases in current reminiscence, looking down 353 towards South Africa due to Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 122 and Salman Ali Agha’s 130 in a report fourth-wicket stand. The texture-good issue lasted till the ultimate, the place New Zealand brushed Pakistan apart.
Then got here the Champions Trophy, and with it, collapse. Taking part in at house as defending champions, Pakistan misplaced to New Zealand, then to India — Virat Kohli’s unbeaten century underlining the gulf on the day — earlier than rain washed out their last group sport. Pakistan exited early, their web run price worse than Bangladesh’s.
The post-tournament reset didn’t instantly translate into outcomes. A tour of New Zealand ended with a 3–0 ODI whitewash, Pakistan comprehensively outplayed. Solely late within the 12 months did stability return. Beneath newly appointed ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, Pakistan beat South Africa 2–1 at house after which whitewashed Sri Lanka 3–0, ending the 12 months with momentum they’d badly wanted.
T20Is: wins with out readability
In T20Is, Pakistan gained greater than they misplaced, however readability remained elusive. They performed 29 matches, profitable 17 and shedding 12. A management change adopted the Champions Trophy, with Salman Ali Agha taking on as captain and Shadab Khan returning as vice-captain.
The highs included a 3–0 house whitewash of Bangladesh, a T20I tri-series win within the UAE, and sequence victories towards West Indies. The lows had been arduous to disregard: a 4–1 defeat in New Zealand, and repeated losses to India within the Asia Cup, together with the ultimate.
One second stood out amid the turbulence: Hasan Nawaz’s blistering 105 off 45 balls* in Auckland, a reminder that uncooked expertise stays Pakistan’s most dependable fixed.
Domestically, PSL 10 delivered drama. Lahore Qalandars scraped into the playoffs, then surged previous Karachi Kings, Islamabad United and at last Quetta Gladiators to carry their third title, underlining Shaheen Afridi’s rising stature as a pacesetter.
The place Pakistan actually gained: youth cricket
If the senior staff looked for solutions, Pakistan’s youth sides provided them in abundance. Pakistan gained the Hong Kong Tremendous Sixes, the ACC Males’s Rising Stars Asia Cup, and, most importantly, their maiden Beneath-19 Asia Cup title, thrashing India within the last in a efficiency that echoed the boldness of 2017.
Sameer Minhas’ batting heroics, Ahmed Hussain’s composure and a fearless bowling assault showcased a technology taking part in with out the bags of current failures.
The 12 months in reflection
Pakistan cricket in 2025 didn’t transfer in straight strains. It staggered, reset, stumbled once more — nevertheless it additionally revealed one thing important. The long run seems sharper, braver and extra assured than the current. Whether or not the senior staff can soak up that spirit stays the central query as Pakistan step into 2026, nonetheless looking for steadiness, however not in need of hope.
