Champions Trophy 2025 Highlights: New Zealand beat Pakistan by 60 runs; Morgan, Watson back India to win title

“Gill is a very, very classy player. There was never a doubt about his ability in this squad. We tend to mix formats and I don’t think that’s the right way to judge any player. Certain players have their strength in certain formats and if one format doesn’t go well, it doesn’t mean that the other formats will be the same. It’s there for all of us to see what happened in Australia and things have changed certainly in a different format.”

“With Gill, we know the numbers are crazy. If you look at it, he has been superb for us in the last 3-4 years that he has batted. Obviously, there is a reason that he has been elevated to be the vice-captain of the team as well. Hopefully, he has a great tournament and it will eventually help us achieve the things that we are looking to achieve,” Rohit said at the press conference.

“To do the runners and riders, the side that’s the front-runner, best positioned across the squads, I would say India… out and out favourites,” Eoin Morgan said during the International Masters League’s Captain’s Day event on Wednesday.

“I can’t really pick any holes in their side. I know that’s been the case the last couple of tournaments they’ve gone into. Finally, (at) Ahmedabad, where Australia picked them, and then the T20 (World Cup) win, where they robbed the trophy out of the South African hands. You have to still believe that winning trophies and tasting champagne brings confidence, because once you’ve been there, you can believe that you can do it again, so that’s why India are the favourites,” added Morgan.

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman appears to have suffered an injury while fielding in the very first over of the Champions Trophy match against New Zealand in Karachi.

Fakhar, who had only recently recently been recalled to the Pakistan side, was giving the ball a chase from mid off after a drive through that region by Will Young off Shaheen Afridi, and appears to have hurt his knee.

Here are the lineups for Match 1 of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy between Pakistan and New Zealand:

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

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, William O’Rourke

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy officially gets underway at Karachi’s National Stadium with hosts and defending champions Pakistan facing New Zealand.

New Zealand enjoy a 3-0 record against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. Can Mohammad Rizwan’s men snap their winless run today? Stay tuned to find out.

Following are the squads of the eight teams that will be in action at the 2025 ICC 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 Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to hoist an Indian flag alongside those of other nations participating in the Champions Trophy at Karachi’s National Stadium ahead of the tournament opener between Pakistan and New Zealand on Wednesday.

This after the viral clip that highlighted the absence of an Indian flag snowballed into a controversy on social media.

The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy was originally scheduled entirely in Pakistan across three venues – Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Karachi’s National Stadium and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

However, due to India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns, a fourth venue had to be added to the list – the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

“Their tantrums are not getting over. We are still praising them. The youngsters in Pakistan want to see Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. I don’t know in which world they are living in and what they want to achieve. When are they going to be intelligent and wise?

“When they will open their hearts? By wearing a tie and taking in English, you think you have become civilized. Pakistan should take a stand and teach them a lesson,” Pakistani spin legend Saqlain Mushtaq said on 24 News ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Here’s the full schedule of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy:

19 February

Pakistan v New Zealand, Karachi

20 February

India v Bangladesh, Dubai

21 February

Afghanistan v South Africa, Karachi

22 February

Australia v England, Lahore

23 February

India vs Pakistan, Dubai

24 February

Bangladesh v New Zealand, Rawalpindi

25 February

Australia v South Africa, Rawalpindi

26 February

Afghanistan v England

27 February

Pakistan v Bangladesh, Rawalpindi

28 February

Afghanistan v Australia, Lahore

1 March

South Africa v England, Karachi

2 March

India v New Zealand, Dubai

4 March

Semi-final 1 in Dubai

5 March

Semi-final 2 in Lahore

9 March

Final in Lahore ( If India qualify, final will be played in Dubai)

10 March

Reserve day

The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network as well as on the Sports18 channels.

And for those who prefer watching live cricket matches on their PCs or smartphones, they can watch the live stream on the JioHotstar website and mobile application.

Team India isn’t exactly a happy bunch ahead of their opening game of the ICC Champions Trophy, against Bangladesh in Dubai on Wednesday.

If the latest reports are to be believed, then a star player is unhappy with head coach Gautam Gambhir for not including him in the playing XI as the wicketkeeper-batter despite being a senior member of the team. ( **READ MORE** )

Team India begin their campaign for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy against Bangladesh in Dubai on Wednesday, 20 February.

The Men in Blue are the only team playing all of their matches outside Pakistan after refusing to travel to their neighbouring country due to security concerns as well as political tensions between the two nations.

Here are Pakistan and New Zealand’s squads for the ICC Champions Trophy and the playing XIs that they are likely to field for the tournament opener on Wednesday:

Pakistan:

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

Likely 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:

Squad: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, William ORourke, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Mark Chapman, Rachin Ravindra

Likely 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

Pakistan have never beaten New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy, with the Black Caps winning all three encounters – two of which were in the semi-finals.

Here’s a recap of the three meetings between the two teams at the ‘Mini World Cup’:

11 October, 2000 (semi-final): New Zealand (255/6) defeated Pakistan (252) by 4 wickets

25 October, 2006 (group stage): New Zealand (274/7) defeated Pakistan (223) by 51 runs

3 October, 2009 (semi-final): New Zealand (234/5) defeated Pakistan (233/9) by 5 wickets

Here’s a look at Pakistan and New Zealand’s head-to-head record – in ODIs as well as in the Champions Trophy:

All ODI matches: 118

Pakistan won: 61

New Zealand won: 53

Tied: 1

No Result: 3

Champions Trophy meetings: 3

Pakistan won: 0

New Zealand won: 3

Tied: 0

No Result: 0