Even with around two months to go, the official schedule of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to take place in Pakistan from the third week of February next year, has not been released by the International Cricket Council. But an expected schedule has by revealed by so many reports.
The Champions Trophy, after a gap of nearly eight years, is expected to begin on February 19, with the 12 group games being divided into the three popular grounds of Pakistan– the National Stadium in Karachi, the Rawalpindi Stadium, and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, and the neutral one which will be either Dubai or Colombo.
The eight-team event, as the schedule has revealed, will begin with the clash between the host Pakistan and New Zealand. The defending champions and the official home side of the tournament will be hoping to retain their crown after the three weeks of competition.
India to face Pakistan on February 23 in Champions Trophy 2025
The very first game for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian side in the Champions Trophy will be on February 21 before the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led Afghanistan side locks horns with the Temba Bavuma-led South Africa. The Proteas, Blackcaps, and the Mohammad Rizwan-led side would already face each other in a tri-series before that as a preparation for the event.
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The mouth-watering clash of the tournament before the two arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, will be played on February 23 (Sunday). So many eyes will be on that encounter after what has transpired from both camps in selecting the venues for the Champions Trophy 2025. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had a war with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as they wrote a letter to the ICC on their decision not to travel across the border because of security problems.
The PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the interior minister of the country, was hard at this position that they won’t be accepting the proposed hybrid model, but later, they were forced to accept it as the games have now been divided into four venues. It has also stated that because of the development, in all the future ICC events, the Pakistan side will not be tripping to India and will get the hybrid model activated, whether in the 2016 T20 World Cup, the 2027 Champions Trophy, or the 2031 ODI World Cup.
The Gaddafi Stadium will host another rivalry between Australia and England in the Champions Trophy 2025. The final group game of the event will be between the two semifinalists of the last ODI World Cup, New Zealand and India.
Champions Trophy Expected schedule
Pak vs Ind match will be played on 23rd Feb#PakistanCricket #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/Rf4hh229tn— Qadir Khawaja (@iamqadirkhawaja) December 21, 2024
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The Gaddafi Stadium has been rewarded with the second semifinal, while the first semifinal will take place in a neutral venue. The final of the Champions Trophy 2025 will take place in either Lahore or a neutral venue, depending on the qualification of the Indian side.
Expected schedule of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025
| Date | Rawalpindi | Lahore | Karachi | Neutral |
| Feb 19, 2025 | Pak vs NZ | |||
| Feb 20, 2025 | Ban vs Ind | |||
| Feb 21, 2025 | Afg vs SA | |||
| Feb 22, 2025 | Aus vs Eng | |||
| Feb 23, 2025 | Pak vs Ind | |||
| Feb 24, 2025 | Ban vs NZ | |||
| Feb 25, 2025 | Aus vs SA | |||
| Feb 26, 2025 | Afg vs Eng | |||
| Feb 27, 2025 | Pak vs Ban | |||
| Feb 28, 2025 | Afg vs Aus | |||
| Mar 01, 2025 | SA vs Eng | |||
| Mar 02, 2025 | NZ vs Ind | |||
| Mar 04, 2025 | Semi-final 1 | |||
| Mar 05, 2025 | Semifinal 2 | Reserve | ||
| Mar 06, 2025 | Reserve | |||
| Mar 09, 2025 | Final | Final | ||
| Mar 10, 2025 | Reserve | Reserve |