ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Will Indian team visit Pakistan | Schedule, venues, Teams, Format

Introduction and history

One of the most competitive cricket tournaments is set to return next year in 2025. The first ever Champion’s Trophy was held in 1998 which was won by South Africa. Cricket fans grooved to the Champions trophy last in 2017. Champions Trophy is often called the Mini World Cup as it brings all the top cricketing nations to compete at a single stage.

2017 Champions Trophy

Champions Trophy was last held in 2017 in England. Pakistan surprisingly took the trophy home under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed where they defeated their arch-rivals India comprehensively in the grand finale.

Tournament Format and Significance

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in ODI format but broadcasters want it in t20 format. It consists of only 8 teams, unlike the World Cups which contain a larger pool of teams. It only includes two groups of four teams each in which the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals. Lesser teams mean fewer overall matches making every match crucial and suspenseful.

Event Host

For the Champions Trophy 2025, ICC has selected Pakistan as the host. Pakistan has a rich cricketing history and a passionate fan base, making it an ideal host for such a prestigious event. This will be a significant and historic moment for the nation. This will be Pakistan’s first major ICC event since the 1996 World Cup, co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka. This shows the ICC’s confidence in Pakistan’s security and cricketing infrastructure.

 Venues

1. Karachi (National Bank Cricket Stadium)
2. Lahore (Gaddafi Stadium)
3. Rawalpindi (Pindi Cricket Stadium)

These are expected to be the primary venues, offering state-of-the-art facilities and an electric atmosphere. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has proposed these venues to the ICC. ICC has accepted the proposal and has completely inspected the security system and other arrangements required to host the event as well.

Participation of India

Due to political conflicts, India has not confirmed its participation in Champions trophy yet. However, everyone is very hopeful for India visiting Pakistan despite India denying to visit Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2022.

The most recent update regarding this question is that the BCCI secretary Jay Shah has hinted at his positive mind by saying that their seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will partake in the tournament.

Indian Board has been quiet till now about this matter which may be a positive sign. ICC also mentioned earlier that we will push the BCCI and Jay Shah to visit Pakistan for the tournament. Nothing can be said about the question until the Indian Board’s official decision.

We can only predict that BCCI appears positive and a higher chance is that we will be seeing the Indian team playing at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

India vs. Pakistan

PCB has scheduled the most anticipated and electrifying game of the tournament in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on the 1^st of March 2025. We will be seeing greats such as Kohli and Rohit in the land of Pakistan for the first time playing an official cricket game.

In case of India not visiting Pakistan this game and other India games will be played at a neutral or hybrid venue most likely in UAE.

 Teams

The teams that will participate in the event are:

• India
• Pakistan (Host)
• Bangladesh
• New Zealand
• Afghanistan
• South Africa
• Australia
• England

Expected dates and schedule

PCB has shared the dates with ICC which are 21st February to 14th March 2025.

ICC gave a positive response on this and the possible schedule of the Champions Trophy is: