ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Harbhajan Singh digs up stats to humiliate Babar Azam & Pakistan

Legendary India spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that Pakistan will be no match to India in the upcoming Champions Trophy clash between the two teams. India and Pakistan will play against each other on February 23 in Dubai.

Harbhajan Singh analyzed the stats of the players from both teams and reasoned why India are the favorites for this contest. He feels that Pakistan's star players like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan don't have a good record against India in ODIs which won't work in their favor.

On the other hand, he compared these stats to that of Indian batters. Harbhajan also claimed that the form is on India's side at the moment which gives them a clear edge over their opponents.

Also read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: 'Pakistan beating India would be an upset' - Basit Ali's bold statement

Harbhajan Singh analyses Pakistan's performance against India

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh shed light on Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman's stats against India. He feels that the low averages from Babar and Rizwan won't pose any threat to India.

"Babar Azam has an average of 31 against India. I believe that your top batter must have an average around 50 which he doesn't have against India. Rizwan plays with a positive attitude. But he has an average of 25 against India," Harbhajan said.

"Fakhar (Zaman) has an average of 46 against India, which is good. Your average should be around 45-50 if you are a good player. So, Fakhar can take the game away from you. He is a proper batter," he added.

"Faheem Ashraf has an average of 12.5 and I don't think you can pose threat to the opposition with such an average. Saud Shakeel has an average of 6 against India. When I see this batting line-up with such an average, I don't get that confidence that this team will fight," he noted.

Harbhajan Singh sheds light on numbers of Indian players

While speaking further in the same video, Harbhajan Singh spoke about the numbers of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and other Indian players. He also backed Kohli to score big despite not being in good form with the bat recently.

"On the other hand, India is very strong. India has form on their side. Recently, Rohit (Sharma) has scored runs, (Shubman) Gill has scored runs, Axar Patel is in form," the former India offspinner said.

Harbhajan further claimed that India are ahead in the bowling department as well. He backed the Men in Blue to lift the Champions Trophy and also backed Afghanistan to do well in familiar conditions.

"The same difference is visible in bowling as well. So, I think that India is way ahead of Pakistan in this contest. India looks very much capable of winning the Champions Trophy. I feel that Afghanistan will also play well in this tournament," the legendary spinner added.

Harbhajan Singh backs Virat Kohli

"(Virat) Kohli has also struck a fifty. Although Kohli is not in very good form but I think that he will score runs here. Whenever a big tournament comes, Kohli always performs. KL Rahul's form is also good," Harbhajan observed.

"Virat Kohli's average is 52 against Pakistan. Shreyas Iyer has an average of 67 against the same opposition. Rohit Sharma averages 51 while Hardik Pandya has an average of 69," he added.

Pakistan will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against New Zealand on February 19 in Karachi. Meanwhile, India will play Bangladesh on February 20 in their opening match of the tournament.

While all the teams will play in Pakistan, India will play all its matches in Dubai as the tournament is being played in a hybrid model.