Last updated on February 2nd, 2025 at 01:20 am
Top Teams to Watch Out for in ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Newz Daddy ICC Champions Trophy Updates
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be a thrilling showcase of cricket, with some of the world’s best teams playing for the prestigious title. The tournament is scheduled to start from February 19 to March 9, 2025, in Pakistan and in UAE. The tournament is going to be placed in hybrid model where India is going to play all their matches including semi-final and final (if they qualify) in Dubai. The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 promises to show intense competition and a record breaking tournament this year. Here is the detailed display of the top teams to watch out for in this highly controversial and hybrid tournament.
The ICC Champions Trophy is one of cricket’s premier tournaments of the ICC. In this tournament only 8 teams are allowed to participate based on the qualification. These 8 teams are divided into two groups A and B. The top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals. This year’s Champions Trophy is going to be hosted across three venues in Pakistan—Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi—and Dubai in the UAE.
With such a competitive line up, let’s look into the top teams that are expected to reach to the semi-finals in this tournament.
Top Teams to Watch Out
Pakistan
Pakistan is the defending champions of the ICC Champions Trophy and hence automatically qualifies for the tournament. Since Pakistan is the host, there is very high expectations from Pakistan audience to retain the title. Pakistan’s victory in 2017 was a significant achievement, and they will look to achieve the same success on their home soil. Under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan, though Pakistan have not yet announced their squad for Champions Trophy 2025, it is expected that he will be leading Pakistan for this tournament.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam will be key players for Pakistan. Pakistan will also be enjoying the home advantage. The familiar pitches and crowd support will also boost their performance drastically. However, there will be additional pressure on Pakistan players to perform well being the host nation and playing in front of their own crowd.
Key Players:
- Mohammad Rizwan (Captain)
- Shaheen Shah Afridi (Bowler)
- Babar Azam (Batsman)
Also Read:
“India’s Champions Trophy Squad. “Is This India’s Best Squad Ever?
India
India has always been playing very good cricket recently being the finalist of 2023 ODI world cup and winner of T20 world cup 2024. The last time when the Champions Trophy was held in 2017, India was runner up where Pakistan beat India and won the title. India with being a very balanced squad featuring experienced players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli alongside the side with emerging stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill. India has all the arsenal to lift the trophy and is one of the strongest contender of winning it this time. Their depth in both batting and bowling makes them one of the favourites to lift the Champions Trophy 2025.
The match between India and Pakistan on 23 February will be the match of the tournament.
Key Players:
- Rohit Sharma (Captain)
- Virat Kohli (Batsman)
- Jasprit Bumrah (Bowler)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shubhman Gill
Australia
The world Champion Australia’s has a great cricketing history and have won the World Cup as many as 5 times which makes them perennial favourite for winning the Champions Trophy 2025. Australian Cricket board has very smartly selected the combination of youth and experienced players in their squad. Players like Pat Cummins and Steve Smith bring in hell lot of experience and stability, while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will lead the bowling attack. The all round ability of Glenn Maxwell is unforgatable when he single handedly win the almost lost match agains Afghanistan in 2023 world cup. Australia believes in playing aggressively and this could prove decisive in high-pressure situations which is likely to be there in this tournament.
Key Players:
- Pat Cummins (Captain)
- Steve Smith (Batsman)
- Mitchell Starc (Bowler)
England
Since the arrival of MacCallum as their head coach, England have transformed their approach from a defensive cricket to Bazzball style of cricket and that approach have given them lot of success. With very aggressive type of batting line up led by Jos Buttler and Phil Salt , England are very much capable of chasing down or setting up a big targets. England is having depth in batting up to number 8 to 9 and their strategic of playing aggressive cricket make them one of the favourites to lift the Champions Trophy 2025 for the first time. One should not forget of having the pace attack in the form of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. They are not bowling the cricket balls, they are bowling rockets.
Key Players:
- Jos Buttler (Captain)
- Phil Salt (All-rounder)
- Jofra Archer (Bowler)
- Joe Root (Batsman)
- Mark Wood (Bowler)
New Zealand
New Zealand has always been a competitive side in every form of cricket internationally. They have also won inaugural ICC Test Championship and also ICC Champions Trophy in 2000. New Zealand have been a force in international cricket. New Zealand’s consistency makes them a team to watch and will be very competitive especially against India and Pakistan. They have always given a good competition to each time in several ICC tournaments but are unfortunate of not being on the winning side of the major ICC tournaments such as World Cup and this time they will be very much eager to claim their second Champions Trophy title. With very well experienced players in the side like Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, New Zealand team can never be underestimated.
Key Players:
- Kane Williamson (Batsman)
- Mitchell Santner (Captain)
- Lockie Ferguson (Bowler)
- Daryl Mitchell (Batsman)
Other Notable Teams
South Africa
Despite being a very strong team historically, South Africa has till now struggled to prove their mental strength of converting their talent into an ICC trophy winning team. They always had very talented players however, have not able to win any ICC trophy till date. In this squad of South Africa for Champions trophy, they have match winning players like Kagiso Rabada, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, and David Miller. South Africa was very near to win the T20 World cup 2024 where they lost the final to India which they shold have won easily. They seem to have a curse of not winning any major ICC trophy.
Afghanistan
Recently one of the team that has got the attention of the world is Afghanistan. They are playing a great cricket recently and have the grit of giving hard time to any team in business. They have emerged as a great competitive side in international cricket. They may not be favourite for winning the title but they are certainly underdogs and can spoil the party of any strong team on their day. Afghanistan team is unpredictable.
Based on current form and squad strength, former cricketers have made predictions regarding which teams are likely to reach the semifinals:
- India
- Australia
- Pakistan
- England
These predictions reflect a consensus among experts who recognize the strengths of these teams heading into the tournament.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has already got lot of attentions and is filled with controversies and you may never know how much controversies are yet to come. It promises to be an exhilarating event filled with drama and high-stakes cricket. As fans across the globe are anxiously awaiting the matches starting on February 19, all eyes will be on Pakistan, India, Australia, England, and New Zealand as they battle for supremacy on one of cricket’s grandest stages.
Also Read:
Australia Announces 15 Member Squad For Champions Trophy 2025
“Cricket Controversy: BCCI Says No to ‘Pakistan’ on Team India’s Jerseys”
