Champions Trophy 2025 Highlights: ICC unveils star-studded commentary panel for marquee event

Australian legend Ricky Ponting has picked Arshdeep Singh over Harshit Rana for India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh.

“I would go with the left-armer and I’d go with Arshdeep (to replace Bumrah). We know how good he’s been in T20 cricket and if you think about the skill set, he probably provides a similar skill set to what Bumrah does with new ball and death overs and that’s what India will miss. That’s taking nothing away from Harshit Rana because I think he has got a lot of talent and we know what he can do with the new ball, but I don’t think his death skills are as good as what Arshdeep Singh’s are.”

“And just that left-arm variation, someone that can bowl left-arm with a new ball and move the new ball. We know how important they are and crucial they can be, especially in big tournaments when you’ve got a lot of right-handers at the top. I would personally lean that way if I was India.”

What: Pakistan vs New Zealand, Champions Trophy 2025

When: Wednesday, 19 February at 2:30 PM IST

Where: National Bank Stadium, Karachi

How to watch: Star Sports Network and JioHotstar app and website

Pitch report: The pitch at the National Stadium in Karachi is traditionally flat, offering excellent conditions for batters. A high-scoring contest is likely, with minimal assistance for bowlers early on. Given the conditions, teams might prefer to bowl first, as dew could play a significant role in the second innings.

Pakistan’s predicted XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf

New Zealand’s predicted XI: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke

The Afghanistan cricket team has revealed the first look of their official Champions Trophy jersey. Afghanistan are set to play their opening game against South Africa on 21 February.

𝙿𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝! ⚡🤩

📸: ICC/Getty#AfghanAtalan | #ChampionsTrophy | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam pic.twitter.com/frKpdrXhBA

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) February 18, 2025

India had announced their final squad for the Champions Trophy last Tuesday (11 February), in which senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah had been replaced by Harshit Rana after getting ruled out due to a back injury.

Additionally, leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy was added to the squad at the expense of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was relegated to the non-traveling reserves. ( **READ MORE** )

Here are the squads of all eight teams participating in the Champions Trophy

Group A

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah*, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Saud Shakeel, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young.

Bangladesh: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, MD Mahmud Ullah, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossai Emon, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana.

Group B

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

England: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran; Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti, Bilal Sami

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen.

The ICC Champions Trophy was founded in 1998 as the Wills International Cup as a knockout event to promote cricket in non-Test-playing nations, and was renamed to ‘ICC KnockOut’ in 2000 before assuming its current name in 2002.

A total of eight editions have taken place till date in the tournament’s history spanning more than 26 years, the last of which was more than eight years ago.

The PCB has responded to the latest controversy pertaining to the ICC Champions Trophy – that of not hoisting the Indian flag at Karachi’s National Stadium ahead of the tournament after it was spotted in a clip that has now gone viral on social media.

“As you know, India is not coming to Pakistan to play its matches during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025; the National Stadium in Karachi, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore have hoisted flags of countries that are going to play at the said venues,” a PCB source told IANS.

The BCCI had recently published its 10-point guidelines for the Indian cricket team in which it had stated that family members and partners could accompany players on overseas tours for up to two weeks for a trip consisting 45 or more days. Since the Champions Trophy was set to conclude in less than a month, family members were denied permission for traveling to Dubai, UAE for India’s games.

The board, however, has since made an exception to the rule and has granted them permission to watch one game, according to Dainik Jagran.

In his preview for the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, senior cricket writer R Kaushik tries to make sense of what hosting the ‘Mini World Cup’ – their first ICC event since the 1996 Wills World Cup – means for the cricket-obsessed nation that is Pakistan.

The BCCI is adhering to ICC’s rules for the upcoming Champions Trophy after all as images shared by the board on their social media accounts shows the word ‘Pakistan’ included in the tournament’s logo on the right side of the jersey.

These pics from today 📸
How good 🤌🏻#TeamIndia | #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/yM50ArMIj5

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2025

As per Pakistani batting legend Mohammad Yousuf, the Mohammad Rizwan-led hosts and have the edge over other teams including arch-rivals India in the upcoming tournament.

“India, too, have a balanced side. Pakistan have the edge because they are playing in home conditions. But they have to play calculated cricket in the tournament,” Yousuf said in the build-up to the tournament. ( **READ MORE** )

India are placed alongside arch-rivals and hosts Pakistan as well as former champions New Zealand – who had beaten them in the final of the 2000 edition in Kenya – as well as 2017 semi-finalists Bangladesh.

**Click here** for a detailed guide on the strengths, weaknesses as well as recent form and squads on all three of India’s Group A opponents.

Senior India pacer Jasprit Bumrah isn’t just the face of India’s bowling unit, he’s also one of India’s greatest bowlers of all time, if not the best, and the best bowler across formats in the current generation. His absence comes as a massive blow to Team India’s hopes of winning the Champions Trophy for a third time, thereby becoming the most successful side in the tournament’s history.

Bumrah sits out of the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy due to a back injury that he had suffered in the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney. Given he is likely to take over as Test captain on a full-time basis later this year, the team management and selectors are likely being cautious about rushing him back to the highest level of the sport right away. ( **READ MORE** )

Here’s the Rohit Sharma-led Indian squad for the Champions Trophy that will be aiming to win a second ICC event in as many years:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Non-traveling reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.

The Indian cricket team will be playing all of their matches in the upcoming Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates after refusing to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns.

Here’s India’s schedule for the group stage of the tournament:

20 February: vs Bangladesh

23 February: vs Pakistan

2 March: vs New Zealand

Should they qualify, India will be playing their semi-final clash in Dubai on 4 March. The final takes place on 9 March, and will also be in Dubai if India qualify.