ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to be played in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in Pakistan from February 19 onwards. This is the first ICC event Pakistan will host since the 1996 World Cup. Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi will be the venues in Pakistan to host the CT 2025 matches.
However, India will play its group A matches against Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand in Dubai, as the Indian government refused permission for the Men in Blue to travel to Pakistan for the tournament.
While previous ICC Champions Trophy tournaments have started with a glittering opening ceremony and other festivities, a report in Pakistani media house Geo Super has stated that this edition of the tournament will not have any festivities or an opening ceremony.
As per the report, due to the delayed arrival of the England and Australian cricket teams in Pakistan, the plans to host an opening ceremony have been canceled.
Also, a pre-tournament press conference and captains’ photoshoot were canceled due to the delay.
“The upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will commence without an opening ceremony due to the delayed arrival of two participating teams. As a result, traditional pre-tournament events, including the press conference featuring all eight captains and the official photo shoot in Karachi, have also been canceled," Geo Super reported.
It has been reported that the English team, which is scheduled to play three ODI series in India before the ICC Champions Trophy, will arrive in Lahore on February 18, while the Australian team, which is currently in Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series and two-match ODI series, will arrive in Pakistan on February 19.
Due to bad political tensions between the two countries, the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan and will instead play its matches in Dubai. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will not fly to Pakistan until February 21.
Bangladesh's opening match in the ICC Champions Trophy is slated for February 20 against India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Afghanistan is likely to arrive in Islamabad on February 12, while the other two participating teams—South Africa and New Zealand—will arrive in Pakistan as early as the first week of February to compete in a tri-series from February 8-14.
“England has opted for a one-week break after their extensive India tour, which concludes with a white-ball series on February 12. Similarly, Australia, following their Sri Lanka tour ending on February 14, has decided on a four-day rest period before arriving in Pakistan. Due to their late arrival, both England and Australia have decided to skip their allotted warm-up matches," the report added.
The report quoted an ICC official, according to whom, “ICC and PCB had shown interest in hosting an opening ceremony, but the schedules of England and Australia, along with player workload management, made it unfeasible.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) stated that, while an opening ceremony was considered internally and with the ICC, no formal confirmation or announcement was made.
Despite the cancellation of the inaugural ceremony, the PCB intends to hold a unique celebration before the Pakistan-New Zealand match on February 19 at the National Stadium in Karachi.
(Geo Super inputs)