Wasim Jaffer lashes out at Bangladesh's senior players for failing to perform in ICC events

Bangladesh faced another defeat in the 2025 Champions Trophy as New Zealand clinched the match by five wickets and 23 balls spare. Despite some of the big names in the team, the Men in Green has crashed out of the tournament in the league stage. Reacting to the underwhelming performance by Bangladeshi batters, former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer criticised Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim's shot selection against New Zealand. Both the star batters fell playing bad strokes, leaving the Bangladesh side five wickets down by the 27th over.

What did Jaffer say?

''We've only seen probably Shakib with that 2019 World Cup where he was a standout player," ESPNcricinfo reported quoting Wasim Jaffer. "But I don't know if it's the pressure that gets to them or they put too much pressure on themselves, they just don't turn up," he added.

Mahmudullah, known for his past heroics in ICC events, including back-to-back centuries in the 2015 World Cup and a crucial ton in the 2017 Champions Trophy, failed to make an impact this time. He missed the first match due to injury and then squandered his opportunity in the second.

New Zealand's win confirmed the #ChampionsTrophy Group A semi-finalists

Match Highlights https://t.co/fGzSWerxj4

— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2025

"Even the shot selection we've seen today was very disappointing. Mushfiq [Mushfiqur] playing that shot, Mahmudullah playing that wild shot. And this is a must-win game. You want them to step up in these kinds of games and make themselves count. So that's been the story in the ICC events, unfortunately," he further said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh lost their first game against India by 6 wickets. They will play their next match, the last one in the league stage, against the host Pakistan. As per the current scenario, India and New Zealand have qualified for the semi-final round.