2025 ICC Champions Trophy

The ICC Champions Trophy is a quadrennial ODI cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Initially held as a biennial tournament since its inaugural edition in 1998 as ICC KnockOut Trophy, it was rebranded as ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 and has been held as a quadrennial tournament since 2009. In 2016, the ICC cancelled future editions of the Champions Trophy after the 2017 tournament, aiming to have only one major tournament in each format of international cricket. However in November 2021 as part of the 2024–2031 ICC men's hosts cycle, ICC announced that the tournament would return from 2025 onwards. Host selection Pakistan was announced as the host of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy on 16 November 2021 as part of the 2024–2031 ICC men's hosts cycle. since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team. The last major tournament to take place in the country was the 1996 Cricket World Cup which it co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka. United Arab Emirates was announced as a neutral venue for the Indian Cricket Team matches due to India's refusal to play in Pakistan. Format The format of the competition had remained the same as it was since eight teams were introduced in the fray back in 2006. All eight teams were slotted into two groups of four, with each team playing once against every other team in the group. The top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage, featuring two semi-finals leading up to the final. India's participation The India–Pakistan cricket rivalry has been severely impacted by the tense political relations between the two nations. In November 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) met with the ICC Executive Board to discuss compensation if India refused to play in Pakistan. A year later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the ICC that India wouldn't travel to Pakistan for the tournament, citing security concerns. Pakistan demanded a written explanation and initially rejected the proposed hybrid model. Neutral venue arrangements On 19 December 2024, following an agreement between BCCI and PCB, the ICC in an update issued on India and Pakistan hosted matches at ICC events, established that the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be played across Pakistan and a neutral venue. The ICC board confirmed that India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC events between 2024 and 2027 would be played at a neutral venue. The fixtures were announced on 24 December 2024, along with the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, UAE as the neutral venue for the tournament. Prize money The ICC allocated a pool of US$6.9 million in prize money for the tournament, a 53 percent increase from the previous edition. The winners would receive the grand prize of $2.24 million, with each team receiving an additional $125,000 for participating. Marketing On 13 November 2024, the ICC launched a new visual identity for the Champions Trophy with the release of a brand launch video, as the event returned for the first time since 2017. On 14 November 2024, The PCB announced the schedule for trophy tour in the region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The PCB's plan to take the trophy to cities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was objected to by the BCCI. On 16 November 2024, the ICC officially announced the global trophy tour for the Champions Trophy starting in Islamabad, with the cities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir excluded. The silverware journeyed across the eight participating nations. The global trophy tour concluded with India in January, as the trophy went back to Pakistan. On 30 January 2025, it was announced that a captains' event would not be held for the tournament. The official theme song for the tournament titled "Jeeto Baazi Khel Ke" produced by Abdullah Siddiqui and performed by Atif Aslam was released on 7 February 2025. On 12 February 2025, the ICC revealed Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shane Watson, Shikhar Dhawan and Tim Southee as the ambassadors for the tournament. On 16 February 2025, a curtain raiser event was held at Lahore Fort in Pakistan, to mark the commencement of the tournament. Three days later on 19 February 2025, the opening ceremony took place at the National Stadium, Karachi. The event featured an aerobatic display by the Pakistan Air Force's Sherdils Squadron with the President Asif Ali Zardari in attendance as the chief guest. == Qualification ==

Pakistan qualified for the competition automatically as hosts and was joined by seven other highest-ranked teams from the 2023 Cricket World Cup group stage. This was the first time former champions Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the tournament, while Afghanistan made their debut appearance in the tournament. == Venues ==

In December 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board was given approval by the Government of Pakistan for the construction of a new cricket stadium in Islamabad for the tournament. On 28 April 2024, three existing venues were proposed for the event by Pakistan. The matches are being hosted in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi with India playing in Dubai. == Match officials ==

On 5 February 2025, ICC released the list of match referees and umpires for the tournament. On 10 February 2025, the match officials schedule for the group stage was released, and on 3 March 2025, the match officials for the two semi-finals had been confirmed. On 6 March 2025, the ICC announced the match officials for the final. ; Match referees ; Umpires == Squads ==

Each team could select a squad of fifteen players for the tournament, with additional travelling reserves also able to be named. England became the first team to announce their squad on 22 December 2024. New Zealand, Bangladesh and Afghanistan announced their squads on 12 January 2025. Australia and South Africa announced their squads on 13 January. India announced their squad on 18 January 2025. Pakistan announced their squad on 31 January 2025. The final squads for each nation was announced on 13 February 2025. Several teams' missed their regular players originally part of the provisional squad, as they had been replaced as a result of late withdrawals due to injuries. ==Warm-up matches==

The warm-up fixtures took place between 14–17 February in the lead-up to the main tournament. The PCB had named three Shaheens squads for the warm-up matches against Afghanistan, South Africa and Bangladesh, respectively, along with a fixture between Afghanistan and New Zealand. ---- ---- ---- == Group stage ==

The ICC announced the groups and their fixtures on 24 December 2024, with the group stage matches being played from 19 February to 2 March 2025. The eight teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team facing the other three teams in the group for a total of 12 matches. The opening match was played between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand on 19 February at the National Stadium, Karachi. Following table lists teams in their initial group stage seedings. }} ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Group B ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- == Knockout stage ==

The knockout stage consisted of two semi-finals and a final. The first semi-final was held on 4 March in Dubai (due to India's boycott of Pakistan), and the second semi-final in Lahore on 5 March. The final was held in Dubai on 9 March. The final had been due to be played in Lahore but the ICC had stated that if India qualified for the final, it would instead be played in Dubai. Both India and New Zealand, after winning each of their first two matches, simultaneously qualified for the semi-finals from Group A on 24 February, when New Zealand completed their second win of the tournament in their match against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi. Australia, after winning their first match and their second match getting abandoned, qualified for the semi-finals on 28 February, when their match against Afghanistan at Lahore ended with no result due to rain. South Africa, after winning their first match and their second match getting abandoned, qualified for the semi-finals on 1 March, when they won group B's last match against England at Karachi. The match-ups for semi-finals were confirmed on 2 March 2025 after India defeated New Zealand in the last match of the group stage at Dubai. India and New Zealand ranked first and second at the points table in Group A and qualified as A1 and A2 with 6 and 4 points respectively. South Africa and Australia, ranked first and second at the points table in Group B, qualified as B1 and B2 with 5 and 4 points respectively. India (A1) played Australia (B2) in the first semi-final on 4 March in Dubai, and New Zealand (A2) played South Africa (B1) in the second semi-final on 5 March in Lahore. Bracket Semi-finals ---- Final == Statistics ==

Most runs Most wickets Team of the tournament On 10 March 2025, the ICC announced its team of the tournament with Rachin Ravindra being named as player of the tournament for his all round performance throughout the tournament and Mitchell Santner as the captain of the team. == Controversies ==

• Pakistan's name was omitted in the Champions Trophy branding during the live broadcast of the match between India and Bangladesh in Dubai. The logo in the top left corner of the broadcast carried the event name - Champions Trophy 2025 - but not the name of Pakistan, the hosts, for the entirety of the match. The PCB wrote to ICC asking for an explanation over the omission, however, the ICC maintained that the incident occurred due to a technical glitch and had clarified that this issue would not affect any future games, regardless of whether they were played in Pakistan or the UAE. • After the tournament final, four officials were part of the presentation ceremony, including Jay Shah, the ICC chair, BCCI president Roger Binny, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and NZC director Roger Twose; yet none from PCB. However, it was not customary for representatives of nations playing the final to feature in post-tournament ICC ceremonies, unless the final involves the host country. PCB asked ICC for an explanation, after the Champions Trophy tournament director Sumair Ahmed was not included in the post-final presentation ceremony in Dubai. Sumair, who was also the chief operating officer of the PCB, was in Dubai for the final in his capacity as tournament director and Pakistan's representative at the final. The PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi was originally meant to be part of the presentations but the PCB said he was unwell and unable to travel to Dubai, and it was expected that Sumair was to stand in as Pakistan's representative. PCB was aggrieved that no ICC representative reached out to the board at any stage during the final to discuss plans for a Pakistani presence on the podium post the final. == Broadcasting ==

The Star Sports network managed the global broadcasting rights as part of their deal with the ICC. The tournament was live streamed on ICC.tv worldwide except for in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar and Pakistan. Additionally, it was also available on following platforms in their respective regions: Commentators The commentary panel for the tournament was announced on 18 February 2025. == References ==