Imran Khan led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup Title.
Despite being hosts, the Mohammad Rizwan-led team had a forgettable outing in the Champions Trophy 2025. After losing to New Zealand and India by huge margins, Pakistan were out of the tournament before the league stage ended. This prompted former all-rounder and ex-head coach Mohammad Hafeez to criticize the 90s Pakistan team in front of a panel including some great names of Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, and Sana Mir.
“I am a huge fan of those who played in the 1990s but when it comes to legacy, they left nothing for Pakistan. They didn’t win an ICC event – they lost the 1996, 1999, and 2003 (World Cups). We reached one final (1999 World Cup) and lost that badly,” said Hafeez on OutSide Edge Live.
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The 44-year-old continued to take a dig at the senior players by questioning the legacy that they left for the current team. Hafeez also discussed how previous teams failed to inspire a winning mentality in ICC tournaments. He also criticized opener Babar Azam.
“As stars, as players, they were the mega superstars. But then they couldn’t inspire us by winning an ICC event. Then came a difficult period that we had to go through and then in 2007 we lost the final (of the T20 World Cup). In 2009 we won under Younis Khan’s captaincy and so there was an inspiration for the next generation. Then unfortunately a bad incident happened with Pakistan cricket and we have still not been able to recover from that. Then we won the 2017 Champions Trophy, that was a huge source of inspiration. People idolise Babar Azam today and that is because even if he didn’t play a big hand in that event, he was there. So that thing about winning ICC events, this the superstars of the 1990s couldn’t do, with all due respect to their talents,” he added.
Then, the panel awkwardly broke into laughter, highlighting the team’s unseriousness. Later, Akhtar highlighted Pakistan’s dominant head-to-head record against India in ODIs, crediting his team’s victories in that era.
“These 73 one-dayers that Pakistan won against India, it is us who won it,” he said.
Pakistan’s cricket history began with legends like Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, and Hanif Mohammad. However, it was in the 1980s, under the leadership of Imran Khan, that Pakistan truly went global. Imran’s team secured the 1992 World Cup title in his farewell tournament. The 1990s witnessed the rise of world-class fast bowling with Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar. Though Pakistan reached the 1999 World Cup final, the era was tainted by match-fixing scandals, leading to six players, including Wasim and Waqar, being censured, and Salim Malik being banned for life.
Pakistan’s performances have fluctuated dramatically on either extreme, with two early World Cup exits in 2003 and 2007 followed by a triumph in the 2009 T20 World Cup. In the previous edition of the Champions Trophy, in 2017, they defeated arch-rivals India to lift the trophy. They also reached the top of the Test rankings in 2016. However, consistency has remained elusive, both on the field and within the boardroom.
Pakistan will tour New Zealand for five T20Is and three ODIs after the end of Champions Trophy 2025.
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