ICC Champions Trophy 2025: First Week Schedule, Results & India vs Pakistan Clash
ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Upcoming Schedule & First Week Results So Far
After an eight-year wait, the ICC Champions Trophy is finally here with its ninth edition. The 2025 tournament started on February 19 with a match between the defending champion, Pakistan, which is also the tournament's host, and New Zealand. Pakistan is hosting an ICC tournament after three decades, whereas all of India’s matches will be played in Dubai.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 became a major controversy even before its start when India declined to travel to Pakistan for the tournament matches, citing security reasons. This led to a tussle between BCCI and PCB and delayed the schedule announcement for several months. The resolution finally came when both India and Pakistan agreed to play their matches in the upcoming ICC tournament's matches at a neutral venue. The upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will last over three weeks and will end on 9th March with the finals.
Tournament Opener: Pakistan Vs New Zealand (Match No. 1, Karachi)
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has started with the match between New Zealand and Pakistan on 19th February, while batting first, New Zealand scored 320 runs. Tom Latham and Will Young scored centuries from the New Zealand side. On the other side, Pakistan, in a poor batting show, lost the match as the team got all out for 260 in just 47.2 overs. Pakistan fans were disappointed with the slow batting from the team’s batting order in the first half of the innings, especially with Babar Azam, which eventually became the reason for the defeat.
Match no. 2: India vs Bangladesh
India started their campaign in the Champions Trophy 2025 with a match against Bangladesh. The Indian team looked good and balanced; the only missing player is Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to injury. In the match at Dubai International Stadium, Bangladesh batting first lost five wickets under 40 runs but with the help of a partnership between Towhid Hridoy(100) and Jaker Ali (68) scored 228 runs, while chasing the target India started with 50+ run opening partnership but lost upcoming four wickets at a regular interval, finally Shubhman Gill who scored a magnificent hundred with the help of KL Rahul 41* completed the chase.
Match No. 3: Afghanistan vs South Africa
The third match will be between Afghanistan and South Africa. Afghanistan, who will be playing in their first-ever ICC Champions Trophy, will make their debut against South Africa. On the other hand, South Africa, often referred to as chokers in ICC tournaments, will be looking to shed this tag. South Africa performed well in the recent ICC tournament; in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, South Africa reached the finals, where they were defeated by India. The match was played on 21st February in Karachi.
Match No. 4: Australia vs England
One of the biggest matches in Group B will be between Australia and England, which will be played on 22nd February in Lahore. The two recent World Cup champions, England in 2019 and Australia in 2023, will face each other on 22nd February. Australia has already won two Champions Trophies, while England is still looking for its maiden Champions Trophy title.
Biggest Clash: Pakistan vs India
The biggest clash of any ICC tournament is between India and Pakistan. Both arch-rivals will be facing each other on 23rd February at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India and Pakistan will be playing against each other after a year in the ODI format, as both teams played against each other in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. In the last five ODI encounters between the two teams, India has won four, while one match was drawn.