The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is approaching, and the cricket world is bracing itself for another blockbuster event. The marquee tournament returns after an eight-year hiatus, and the emotions among cricket fans are high. It was last played in 2017 when archrivals India and Pakistan played in the finals at The Oval in London. Pakistan won that match by 180 runs, winning their first-ever ICC Champions Trophy. As it happens, the defending champions, Pakistan, will host the event this year from February 19 alongside the UAE.
All eight teams participating in the tournament have submitted their ‘Final 15’ member list to the ICC and the ICC has released the final schedule as well. But before we get into the 2025 edition, here’s a little bit about the history of the tournament.
The ICC Champions Trophy, also called the ‘Mini World Cup’, started in 1998 when it went by the name, the ICC Knockout Trophy. It was a biennial event from 1998 to 2006, followed by once in 2009, 2013, and 2017 respectively. With the rise of T20 cricket and several domestic tournaments around the world, it seemed like the Champions Trophy has lost its place in the modern-day pantheon of events. But the ICC has brought back the tournament with much razzmatazz and it promises to be a spectacular event.
The Hosts Pakistan and the UAE
On 16th November 2021, the ICC bestowed Pakistan with the sole hosting rights of the 2025 Champions Trophy. However, in the light of recent delegations, meetings, and other diplomatic reasons, the UAE has also been added as a host nation. The Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE will be hosting all the matches of India during the group stage and further. The remaining matches will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, National Stadium in Karachi, and Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The 8-nation tournament is divided into two groups, A and B. Group A comprises India, New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and Group B consists of Australia, South Africa, England, and Afghanistan. The top 2 winners from each group advance to the semi-finals, and then the winners play the final.
Marquee Players to Look Out For
As each team has already submitted a 15-member squad to the ICC (Full List below), fans are eager to look out for their favorite marquee players from their nation. Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Jos Butler, Babar Azam, Travis Head, Steve Smith, etc. will all be in action throughout the tournament. However, a big question mark looms over the availability of other huge names like Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Rashid Khan, and others for their respective countries.
With the constant injury update of every player, each team’s structure is going through a consistent change; their core team strengthening or weakening by the day. Either way, the tournament has still generated a lot of buzz from cricket fans, and the promotional activities for the event are in full swing.
It started with Wasim Akram getting the ball rolling with a promotional ad titled ‘Champions Rise, Champions Shine’. It was followed by current World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins who took a cheeky dig at his contemporaries like Virat Kohli, Quinton de Kock, Ben Stokes, and Ollie Pope, also part of the Champions Trophy promotions. Finally, we see Indian World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni promoting the biggest rivalry in cricket – India vs Pakistan on 23rd February.
How Are Each Team Looking Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025?
Starting with the host nation Pakistan, they have defeated Australia 2-1 in a 3-match ODI series in Australia last year. This was a rare, unprecedented win for the South-Asian side Down Under, as they won an ODI series in Australia after 22 years. Post that, however, Pakistan lost an ODI match against New Zealand at home during the triangular series between Pakistan-New Zealand-South Africa in February 2025.
New Zealand look good as they beat both South Africa and Pakistan dominatingly in the aforementioned triangular series in Pakistan. South Africa had a great ODI World Cup in 2023, reaching the semi-finals with 7 out of 9 wins in the group stage. But since then, their form has spiraled down a bit. They lost two ODI series’ to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the latter at home. However, they are still a strong side and fans expect them to create a strong impact in the Champions Trophy.
India had shown some signs of trouble when they lost 2-0 against Sri Lanka in last year’s ODI series. However, they have since bounced back, defeating England in the 2025 ODI series. Their win came on the backs of stellar performances by captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer.
Australia hasn’t quite been in their full-strength ODI squad ever since their World Cup victory at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. But they still managed to secure a 3-2 win over England in England in September last year. Despite their small hiccup against Pakistan at home, Australia is always a formidable side in any ICC tournament. Conversely, England hasn’t had a great run in ODI’s for a long time now. After their forgetful World Cup in India, they have lost successive ODI series against Australia and India as well. However, such is the strength of the squad and the talent in their side, England can be a threat in any tournament. Therefore, they will always be a side to reckon with.
The remaining two teams Afghanistan and Bangladesh have done well to replace Sri Lanka and West Indies, who used to be regulars in the previous editions, in the top 8 of the tournament.
Other Issues
Besides injuries, team structure, and other changes, and outside of the last-minute addition of another hosting venue in the UAE, there were some other minor problems that this Champions Trophy faced.
One of them is the incomplete construction of stadiums in Pakistan so close to the tournament. There were reports of stadiums still under construction, which would host matches in the tournament. However, the PCB has assured that their stadiums will be ready in time and there’s nothing to worry about.
Some have even questioned the need for a tournament like this, raising points about its relevance and importance in the modern-day context of cricket.
Irrespective of all such problems and controversies, the Champions Trophy is going ahead as per schedule. The stage is set, the teams are ready, and cricket fans are just waiting for it to start.
Here are the ‘15-Man’ Squad of Each Team (Subject to Change)
| Pakistan | India | Australia | New Zealand | South Africa | Afghanistan | England | Bangladesh |
| Mohammad Rizwan (c) | Rohit Sharma (c) | Alex Carey | Mitchell Santner (c) | Temba Bavuma (c) | Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) | Jos Buttler (c) | Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c) |
| Babar Azam | Shubman Gill | Nathan Ellis | Michael Bracewell | Tony de Zorzi | Ibrahim Zadran | Jofra Archer | Soumya Sarkar |
| Fakhar Zaman | Virat Kohli | Aaron Hardie | Mark Chapman | Marco Jansen | Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Gus Atkinson | Tanzid Hasan |
| Kamran Ghulam | Shreyas Iyer | Travis Head | Devon Conway | Heinrich Klaasen | Sediqullah Atal | Jacob Bethell | Tawhid Hridoy |
| Saud Shakeel | KL Rahul | Josh Inglis | Lockie Ferguson | Keshav Maharaj | Rahmat Shah | Harry Brook | Mushfiqur Rahim |
| Tayyab Tahir | Hardik Pandya | Marnus Labuschagne | Matt Henry | Aiden Markram | Ikram Alikhil | Brydon Carse | MD Mahmud Ullah |
| Faheem Ashraf | Axar Patel | Glenn Maxwell | Tom Latham | David Miller | Gulbadin Naib | Ben Duckett | Jaker Ali Anik |
| Khushdil Shah | Washington Sundar | Matt Short | Daryl Mitchell | Wiaan Mulder | Azmatullah Omarzai | Jamie Overton | Mehidy Hasan Miraz |
| Salman Ali Agha | Kuldeep Yadav | Steve Smith | Will O’Rourke | Lungi Ngidi | Mohammad Nabi | Jamie Smith | Rishad Hossain |
| Usman Khan | Jasprit Bumrah (subject to fitness clarence) | Mitchell Starc | Glenn Phillips | Kagiso Rabada | Rashid Khan | Liam Livingstone | Taskin Ahmed |
| Abrar Ahmed | Mohammad Shami | Adam Zampa | Rachin Ravindra | Ryan Rickelton | AM Ghazanfar | Adil Rashid | Mustafizur Rahman |
| Haris Rauf | Arshdeep Singh | (Four Replacements to be named) | Ben Sears | Tabraiz Shamsi | Noor Ahmad | Joe Root | Parvez Hossai Emon |
| Mohammad Hasnain | Yashasvi Jaiswal | Nathan Smith | Tristan Stubbs | Fazalhaq Farooqi | Saqib Mahmood | Nasum Ahmed | |
| Naseem Shah | Rishabh Pant | Kane Williamson | Rassie van der Dussen | Farid Malik | Phil Salt | Tanzim Hasan Sakib | |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Ravindra Jadeja | Will Young | Corbin Bosch | Naveed Zadran | Mark Wood | Nahid Rana |
