Dawn
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02:31 May 11, 2025
Mohammad Rizwan is arguably the most media-savvy active cricketer in Pakistan right now. He knows the art of virality. The zappy Rizwan has a punchy remark for all situations, but that night he was compelled to repeat the very words he had uttered after it became all but certain that Pakistan would not go beyond the group-stage of a home Champions Trophy under his captaincy. “I do not like to be dependent on the results of the other teams,” the Multan Sultans captain said after Quetta Gladiators condemned his team to the largest defeat in terms of balls remaining in the history of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They needed to win all the remaining matches and had to hope for other results to go in their favour after Sultans had lost six out of seven matches and had a negative net run rate of 2.355. Two days later, Karachi Kings thrashed Multan Sultans by 87 runs. The result effectively eliminated Rizwan’s side — that still had two more matches to play — from the playoffs race with still as many as 10 group ...