Pride and a lot more at stake for Pakistan in Champions Trophy dead rubber against Bangladesh

Motivation will be one of the biggest questions when hosts Pakistan take on Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy on Thursday. The match in Rawalpindi has turned into a dead rubber, with both teams already knocked out of the tournament following two heavy defeats apiece. This is definitely not how Pakistan had envisioned their first home ICC tournament in three decades would pan out - Mohammad Rizwan's team getting eliminated within five days of the start of the event. What will also hurt Pakistan fans is that their home team will not get to play at the refurbished Lahore stadium, that will host the semi-final. The Qaddafi Stadium is the epicentre and powerhouse of Pakistan cricket, and the absence of their team will be felt deeply over the coming couple of weeks. Still, there is a job to be done and Pakistan need to pull up their socks one last time before bidding adieu to the tournament for which they had gone to great lengths to put together. However, there could be more bad news on match day as there is rain forecast in Rawalpindi almost the entire week. The last match at the venue, between Australia and South Africa on Tuesday, was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Pakistan players and fans will be praying for a full match as they have a lot to play for. Sure, they are out of the tournament. But the home team will be desperate to show their fans that all is not lost and that they still care. Pakistan's performances in the first two matches fell woefully short of the mark. They lost the tournament opener by 60 runs in Karachi and were thoroughly outplayed by India by six wickets in Dubai . The scorecard won't show how thoroughly they were outplayed. In both matches, Pakistan's bowling lacked any potency and one of the reasons was their decision to pick just one frontline spinner. Their batting proved even more problematic in the absence of attacking top order batters Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub. Slow batting by their top order, coupled with more than 150 dot balls in both matches, meant the team in green were playing catch-up throughout. The lack of fight, game plan and appropriate personnel have made it one of the most embarrassing tournaments in recent times for Pakistan. All they can do now is hope for a full match, defeat Bangladesh, provide some relief to their supporters and then begin the rebuilding process. Either way, it looks like a number of senior players and management will be on their way out once the dust settles on the Champions Trophy. The team has failed to get out of the opening round in three successive ICC tournaments and there is likely to be another round of wholesale changes soon. "We have been backing these players for the last few years but they are not learning nor improving," former captain Wasim Akram said. "It is time for a major shake-up. We need to improve our system of domestic cricket so that we can produce quality cricketers, not ordinary ones." Now that the pressure is completely off, Pakistan might get to play with more freedom. But they can't take the match lightly as Bangladesh gave India and New Zealand a markedly better fight before losing. Pakistan will have to be wary of the Tigers as they have a good spin attack and even their pacers possess enough potency. Nahid Rana in particular has emerged as a serious pace threat and has already rattled Pakistan in Tests in their backyard. All of which could be made redundant if it continues to rain in Rawalpindi.

Pride and a lot more at stake for Pakistan in Champions Trophy dead rubber against Bangladesh

Weather could play spoilsport in Rawalpindi on Thursday