Champions Trophy; Pakistan’s grand opening celebrations began on February 19 and ended on the same day
……. .. Asghar Ali Mubarak…..
Champions Trophy; Pakistan’s grand opening celebrations began on February 19 but unfortunately ended on the same day. It should be remembered that after heavy investment, there is no final in Pakistan.
The final of the ICC Champions Trophy will also be held at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on March 9 (Sunday), where the final will be between India and New Zealand. On March 2, India also played the third match against New Zealand at the Dubai Cricket Stadium, where India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs.
Pakistan has reportedly spent up to $16 million to upgrade 3 stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, while Pakistan will receive $6 million as hosting fee from the ICC.
The host country, Pakistan, has faced financial difficulties due to lack of interest in the Champions Trophy due to its early exit from the tournament. In addition, 3 matches in Pakistan were affected due to bad weather.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced to refund the ticket prices of the matches affected by rain during the ICC Champions Trophy.
The PCB has announced to refund the ticket prices of all the matches affected by rain to the cricket fans, ticket holders can claim their money back between March 10 and March 14. It should be noted that the toss was not possible in the 2 matches scheduled at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium of the ICC Champions Trophy.
According to the PCB policy, if the match is abandoned before the toss, then the tickets of all enclosures will be refunded, however, the ticket holders of the hospitality boxes will not be eligible for a refund.
It should be noted that the last match of Group A between Pakistan and Bangladesh was cancelled due to rain, which could not even be tossed, and earlier the match scheduled in Rawalpindi between the teams of Australia and South Africa could not be tossed.
The final of the Champions Trophy was to be held in Lahore on Sunday, but for this, India’s defeat in the first semi-final was necessary, but this could not happen and India defeated Australia and reached the final of the Champions Trophy for the fifth time and the final was also shifted from Lahore to Dubai.
India and New Zealand have reached the final. India played all their matches at the same stadium in Dubai, while the New Zealand team played the first match in Karachi, the second in Rawalpindi, then in Dubai and then in the semi-final in Lahore.
There is no doubt that the Indian team has performed brilliantly in ICC events in recent times. It played the final of the 2023 ODI format World Cup, became the winner of the 2024 T20 World Cup and has now reached the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
But compared to the other two mega events, even if the Indian team wins the trophy, it will be considered controversial, which is because India has to play all the matches at only one venue compared to other teams.
What will be the issues of the PCB, ICC and the Indian Cricket Board when the 2026 T20 World Cup comes? Will the Pakistan team also get the opportunity to play all the matches at the same venue in Sri Lanka like India? Will the Indian team be willing to play its match against Pakistan in Sri Lanka instead of India?
And if Pakistan reaches the final, that final will be in Sri Lanka instead of India? However, it is premature to say anything in this regard. In this whole situation, the facilities and advantages that India gets in the current event compared to other teams, while possibly if Pakistan gets all these advantages in the 2026 T20 World Cup,
the reputation of both mega events will continue to be criticized. Gaddafi Stadium Lahore and National Stadium Karachi have been renovated under the pretext of the Champions Trophy,
while we will also get 6.5 million dollars from the ICC, but will we be able to take advantage of this mega event that will promote cricket in Pakistan and increase the inclination of the new generation towards it?
Before the start of the Champions Trophy, India had refused to visit neighbouring Pakistan due to political tensions, after which the ICC scheduled all India’s matches in Dubai under the hybrid model.
Politics has done a lot of damage to cricket, it would have been great if the Indian team had come to Pakistan and lifted the trophy in Lahore. The issue of one team not visiting another country and Pakistan not visiting India in the future will badly affect world cricket,
Pakistan had agreed to the so-called hybrid model of hosting only on the condition that it would not send its team to India for future ICC events.
Pakistan celebrated the start of the Champions Trophy on February 19th when for the first time in 3 decades, an international cricket tournament started in Pakistan, but unfortunately, everything ended from that day.
But when Pakistan itself had accepted this hybrid model, then what is the regret?
When we do not have the strength, we have to bow down and this was the deal that Pakistan had to make, our team and our cricket are behind, so we had to compromise.
Why was it decided to hold all India’s matches, semi-finals and even the final in the Champions Trophy, in the Dubai Stadium? Surprisingly, the PCB decided to hold all India’s matches, semi-finals and even the final in the Dubai Stadium, the reason for which was to earn more money from gate money.
It should be noted that there is severe criticism around the world for holding all the Indian team’s matches in Dubai.
The reason for holding all the matches in Dubai was to earn more money from gate money. When the Indian government did not allow its team to go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy,
under the hybrid model, when the Indian team was decided to play at a neutral venue, the host Pakistan chose the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the neutral venue for the Indian team, due to its good relations with the Emirates Cricket Board and the UAE neutral venue for every home series from 2009 to 2019.
It should be noted that India played its first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh at the Dubai Cricket Stadium, where, thanks to Tohid Hardoi’s century and Zakir Ali’s half-century, the Bengal Tigers were able to score 228 runs. However, India achieved the desired target in 46.3 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.
India’s second match was also played on February 23 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai, where India defeated Pakistan by 6 wickets thanks to Virat Kohli’s brilliant century.
India’s third match on March 2 was also against New Zealand at the Dubai Cricket Stadium, where India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs and remained unbeaten in the group stage. The first semi-final was also played by India at the same Dubai Cricket Stadium, where India defeated Australia by 4 wickets to reach the final.
India reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy for the fifth time, the first time India reached the final of the second Champions Trophy in the year 2000, where New Zealand defeated India for the first time and became champions.
The Indian team reached the final once again in the next Champions Trophy in the year 2002, but the final in Colombo was affected by rain, after which Sri Lanka and India were declared joint champions.
The Indian team reached the final of the Champions Trophy for the third time in 2013 and became the champion for the second time by defeating England in the final.
The Indian team reached the final of the Champions Trophy for the fourth time in 2017, where Pakistan defeated India under the leadership of Sarfaraz Ahmed to win the title for the first time.
The first semi-final was played at the Dubai Cricket Stadium, where the entire Australian team was bowled out for 264 runs in 49.3 overs while batting first. In pursuit of the target, Virat Kohli once again played a responsible innings for India and played an important role in the team’s victory.
India achieved the desired target 2 overs in advance thanks to Virat Kohli’s 84 runs. Captain Rohit Sharma, who opened the innings for India, got two opportunities in the early overs, but despite this, he failed to play a big innings. Sharma was dismissed for 28 runs while Shubman Gill could only score 8 runs.
Despite the low target, Australia showed very poor fielding. After Rohit, Virat Kohli was also given a chance, due to which he was able to build a significant partnership of 91 runs with Shreyas Iyer. Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 45 runs, while Axar Patel also contributed to the victory by playing an innings of 27 runs,
Hardik Pandya played an aggressive innings of 28 runs while KL Rahul was not out on 42 runs. Virat Kohli played a major role in India’s victory, he not only completed his half-century but also played an innings of 84 runs off 98 balls, which included only 5 fours. From Australia, Adam Zampa and Nathan Ellis took 2 wickets each,
while Ben Duvalls and Cooper Connolly took one wicket each. Earlier, after winning the toss against India, they decided to bat.
The Kangaroos brought in young batsman Cooper Connolly after aggressive opening batsman Matt Short was unfit, but he fell victim to Mohammed Shami without opening his account. The other opener,
Travis Head, who has always performed well against India, played an aggressive innings of 39 runs off 33 balls, he fell victim to Varun Chakravarthy, Marnus Labuschagne 29 and Josh Ingles 11 runs proved to be guests.
Captain Steve Smith completed his half-century and despite having almost 200 runs on the board in 36 overs, Smith appeared to be in a hurry and lost his wicket while playing a wrong short, he was out after scoring 73 runs off 96 balls.
Glenn Maxwell hit a six on the first ball and on the very next ball, Patel added to the troubles of the Kangaroos by clean bowling Maxwell. Alex Carey showed responsibility and scored a half-century. He remained on the wicket till the end but unfortunately was run out for 61 runs after completing his half-century.
For India, Mohammed Shami took 3 wickets, Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy took 2 wickets each, while Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each. Steven Smith announced his retirement from ODI cricket immediately after Australia’s defeat in the Champions Trophy semi-final.
Despite being 12th in the list of highest run-scorers for Australia, Smith has announced his retirement from ODI cricket. Only 5 players have scored more than his 12 ODI centuries and out of these five, only David Warner has a better average.
Steve Smith was part of the ODI World Cup winning team in 2015 and 2023, scoring 50-plus runs in five consecutive innings in 2015,
including 105 in the semi-final against India and 56 not out in the final against New Zealand. He was named in the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year in 2015 and Australia’s ODI Player of the Year in 2014-15 and 2020-21, the year he scored three centuries, including a masterclass off 62 balls against India at the SCG, three days apart. Smith led Australia in 64 ODIs from 2015 to 2025.
In the crucial Champions Trophy match, South Africa comfortably defeated England by 7 wickets to top Group B. England were bowled out for 179 runs in the current tournament against South Africa, setting the Proteas a target of 180 runs to win, which they achieved in the 30th over for the loss of 3 wickets.
South Africa also qualified for the semi-finals. Marco Johnson, who took 3 wickets for 39 runs and 3 catches for the Proteas, was adjudged the man of the match.
Proteas batsman Rossi van der Dussen played an unbeaten innings of 72 runs, studded with 3 sixes and 6 fours, while Henrik Klaasen stood out with 64 runs, in addition to Ryan Rickelton scoring 27 and David Miller scoring 7 runs. England’s Jofra Archer took 2 wickets and Adil Rashid took one.
England suffered their first loss for just 9 runs, when Salt returned to the pavilion after scoring 8 runs, while the second and third wickets fell for 20 runs and 37 runs respectively, with half of the England team returning to the pavilion at a total of 103 runs. Root scored the most runs for England with 37 runs, while Jofra Archer scored 25,
Ben Duckett 24, captain Buttler 21, Harry Brook 19 and Overton 11 runs. The series of wickets falling for the English team continued intermittently and the entire team was dismissed for 179 runs in the 39th over, giving the Proteas a target of 180 runs to win. For South Africa, Marco Johnson and Wien Mulder took 3 wickets each,
while Keshav Maharaj took 2, Ngidi and Rabada took 1 wicket each. Captain Jos Buttler resigned from the captaincy after England’s poor performance in the Champions Trophy.
The 34-year-old player made this announcement before the match against South Africa. Jos Buttler resigned from the captaincy after England’s early exit in the group stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
It should be noted that the England team had lost its first 2 matches of Group B against Australia and Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy.
In the first match played on February 22, 2025, England had scored the highest score in the history of the Champions Trophy to win against Australia thanks to Ben Duckett’s brilliant innings, however, the Kangaroos had created new history by achieving the target of 352 runs 2 overs earlier.
In the second match on February 26, Afghanistan defeated England by 8 runs after a thrilling match and eliminated them from the tournament. In the match, Afghanistan, batting first, scored 325 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs thanks to Ibrahim Zadran’s brilliant innings of 177 runs.
In pursuit of the target, England’s early wickets fell early, however, the match was very interesting thanks to Joe Root’s century,
but he could not win the match for his team and the entire English team was dismissed for 317 runs in the last over. In the second semi-final of the Champions Trophy, New Zealand defeated South Africa by 50 runs to reach the final.
The final of the mega event will be held on March 9 in Dubai between the teams of New Zealand and India. Batting first, New Zealand scored 362 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs thanks to the brilliant centuries of Rachan Ravindra and Kane Williamson.
In the chase of the target, other batsmen from South Africa, except for David Miller, could not show a good performance.
The Proteas scored 312 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs thanks to David Miller’s century. It should be noted that the record for the highest total in the tournament has been broken for the third time in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
The 21-year-old Champions Trophy record was broken in the match between Australia and England when England, batting first, set a target of 352 runs for Australia to win, but Australia set a new record by achieving this target in the same match.
Chasing the highest target of the Champions Trophy, South Africa’s first wicket fell for 20 runs when Ryan Rickleton was dismissed after scoring 17 runs.
Captain Timba Bavuma and Ross van der Dussen put on a 105-run partnership, during which both players completed their half-centuries, but neither could advance their innings.
Captain Timba was dismissed after scoring 56 runs and Dawson’s innings ended at 69 runs, after which Aiden Markram came to bat but could only score 31 runs. For New Zealand, Mitchell Santner took 3,
Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips took 2, while Michael Bracewell and Rachan Ravindra took one wicket each. Except for Will Young and Tom Latham, who opened the innings for the Kiwis, all the batsmen showed excellent batting,
Will Young was dismissed for 21 and Tom Latham for 4 runs. Rachan Ravindra and Kane Williamson put on a crucial 164-run partnership for the second wicket, with both batsmen first completing their half-centuries and then centuries.
Rachan Ravindra was dismissed after scoring 108 runs off 101 balls with the help of a six and 13 fours, while Kane Williamson played an innings of 102 runs off 94 balls, which included 2 sixes and 10 fours.
Daryl Mitchell played an innings of 49 runs off 37 balls and Glenn Phillips also played an aggressive innings of 49 runs off 27 balls, which included a six and 6 fours. For South Africa, Lanky Ngidi took 3 wickets, Kagiso Rabada took 2 and Wayne Mulder took one wicket.
The final of the mega event will be held on March 9 in Dubai between the teams of New Zealand and India.
New Zealand team for the final: Mitchell Santner (captain), Will Young, Rachan Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O’Rourke,
Indian team: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
