Let’s face it.. The Pakistan cricket team has been poor in the Champions Trophy 2025, were pathetic against Team India on Feb 23 encounter, and are rightly out of the tournament. But that might have larger implications on the team. As per a report, the PCB and the marketing economy fear, that the team might start losing the brand values and maybe sponsors too.
India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy
First, Mohammad Rizwan’s team lost by hefty 60 runs against New Zealand in the tournament opener in Karachi, and then they succumbed to India in a one-sided encounter. In fact, they did not challenge both the oppositions, and perhaps face the risk of losing their final group match against Bangladesh too.
“It was an uplifting experience to see people respond and enjoy a match not involving Pakistan,” news agency PTI cited a PCB source as saying. “But now, the challenge is to ensure the crowds keep on coming for the remaining matches in Pakistan, because we are hosting such a big event after 29 years,” the source said.
PAK Team Might Lose More
“We are guaranteed hosting fees, our share of ICC revenues including ticket sales, but there are other issues like people losing interest in the mega event, broadcasters showing half-filled stadiums etc. And the biggest worry is despite the craze for cricket here, it may not be easy to sell Pakistan cricket as a brand in future,” he said.
If that is not enough, the PCB members are not passing the buck to chairman Mohsin Naqvi. “His focus appeared to be on just the upgrade of the stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi whereas he forgot that the most important thing was to have a team that could make it to the final in the Champions Trophy because fans relate to performances,” the source said.
PSL Might Suffer Too
The report further went on to suggest that advertising professional Tahir Reza isn’t very bullish on the Pakistani team, in the future. “It’s easy to say cricket sells itself in Pakistan but that is not the case because the interest and attachment of fans, sponsors, advertisers, broadcasters is all linked to the performances as well,” Tahir said.
“If the team does not perform, and that too in a high-profile event like the CT, the sponsor wouldn’t hesitate to invest his money in other public interest domains like music, entertainment, other sports, etc.” In fact, PSL brand might just take a hit due to this shoddy performance.
