In this article, we present to you our preview and predictions for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Champions Trophy is back after eight long years with defending champions Pakistan hosting its ninth iteration. With teams juggling between the T20 format and red-ball cricket, the 50-days format has lost its shine in recent times. Following the successful execution of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India less than 15 months ago, the top-8 nations in the ODI format will now square off against each other for a chance to lift the ICC Champions Trophy.
Preview
The eight teams participating in this tournament are divided into two groups. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand make up Group A, while Australia, England, Afghanistan and South Africa make up Group B.
During the 2023 ODI World Cup, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa made it to the last four, while last year’s T20 World Cup saw Afghanistan and England go deep with India and South Africa contesting the final. Thus, unlike any of its previous iterations, this year’s Champions Trophy doesn’t have one clear favourite, with many countries coming close to winning the ultimate prize in recent times. And given that it is a shorter format, the margin for error is even less.
With less than three weeks remaining until Pakistan and New Zealand kickoff proceedings at Karachi on 19th February, most of the front-runners are shaping up in the best way possible.
England are touring India for five T20 internationals and three ODIs. Pakistan recently concluded their two-Test series against West Indies at home, and will welcome South Africa and New Zealand for a Tri-series before the Champions Trophy. Afghanistan also recently concluded their tour of Zimbabwe and Australia are currently touring Sri Lanka for two Tests and two ODIs before the marquee tournament takes centrestage.
All eight teams have hardly played any ODI cricket since the 2023 World Cup and are now making last minute adjustments to fine-tune their squads ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Predictions
Best Batter: Travis Head
No one has been as influential as Travis Head since he made his comeback into the Australian playing XI in March 2022. The 31-year-old has been one of the most consistent players across all three formats. Head was the lead catalyst in Australia’s victories against South Africa and India in the 2023 CWC knockout stages, winning the Man of the Match award in both the semi-final and the final. Similarly, it was his 163 in the World Test Championship final against India that helped Australia win the title.
In crunch situations and against quality opposition, there is no one better to have in your corner. During Australia’s last ODI series against England, the South Australian scored 248 runs at a strike-rate of 121, averaging 82+. Similarly, in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where batters found it incredibly difficult to score runs, Head ended the series as the highest run-getter, scoring 448 runs including two match-winning hundreds. If Australia are to win another ICC tournament under Pat Cummins’ leadership, their 31-year-old opener will definitely have a big say in it.
Best Bowler: Jasprit Bumrah
Indians are very lucky to have someone like Jasprit Bumrah in their wings. There’s not one bowler in world cricket right now who’s as effective as the Indian pacer. If not for his back spasm that ruled him out of the last innings during the Sydney Test, there’s every chance India could have won that game despite setting a modest total. Declared fit to play in the Champions Trophy, India will be counting on their ace bowler to lead the charge in Dubai.
Due to the political rift between Pakistan and India, the latter will play all its matches in the UAE, including both the semi-final and the final, if India go that far. Bumrah was the standout bowler during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, picking up 32 wickets. The 31-year-old also has an exceptional record in the ODI format, picking up 149 wickets in just 89 matches with an economy rate of 4.60. Thus, looking at how the wickets in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium have played out in the last year or so, someone like Jasprit Bumrah will find a lot of joy bowling in such conditions.
Emerging Player: Allah Ghazanfar
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar has been a revelation since bursting onto the scene during the under 19 World Cup in South Africa last year. The young 18-year-old is the latest to join the long lineage of exceptional spin bowlers coming out of Afghanistan. The right-arm offbreak mystery bowler – since breaking into the international scene – has been really difficult to go after and his variations and bags of trickery mean batters often go out playing the false shot.
In his 11-match long ODI career, Ghazanfar has already picked up 21 wickets, including two 5-fers, as well as going for just 4.05 runs per over. Although pitches in Pakistan have traditionally assisted seam bowlers, there has always been something in it for spinners. Moreover, looking at who Afghanistan have been drawn alongside in Group B, the young 18-year-old will be one to look out for throughout the league stages.
Worst Team: Bangladesh
Once striving to break into the big boys’ pack, the Bangladesh men’s team has been slowly slipping into an era which it fought so hard to get out of. Since making the semi-finals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England, it has been a downward spiral for the Bengal Tigers. They were thoroughly outplayed by the big boys in both the 2023 CWC and the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbeans, while teams below team are slowly breathing down their necks.
Bangladesh recently played two ODI series against West Indies and Afghanistan, and lost both of them. They won only one game out of a possible six, and lack in all three aspects when compared with the big guns. Paired with the likes of India, Pakistan and New Zealand in group A, it doesn’t get any tougher.
Favourites: Australia
The 2023 ODI World Cup winners will walk into this year’s ICC Champions Trophy as the favourites to lift the trophy ahead of the likes of India, Pakistan and South Africa. There’s no doubt that this Australian side has flaws, but after a very long time, the Aussies will have a batting line-up that will be firing on all cylinders. Their recent BGT series win against India saw a lot of their batters find form ahead of this tournament.
With bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa and skipper Pat Cummins, Australia have the bowling unit to challenge any opposition. It is their batting unit that has at times lost the plot and collapsed without any warning. The first two games in the 2023 CWC league stages, the series loss against Pakistan in November where Harris Rauf terrorised Australian batters. However, these issues have been put to bed with many of their key batters returning to form including the likes of Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschange and Glenn Maxwell. With their know-how of winning big ICC tournaments, it is very difficult to look past Australia as the early favourites.
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