The legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has locked in his favorites to clinch the 2025 Champions Trophy. The eight-team competition is all set to take place from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan and the UAE.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have not yet unveiled their squad for the showpiece event. However, it will be their first ICC event under keeper Mohammad Rizwan’s captaincy. Meanwhile, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Salman Agha will be key players for the side as they look to defend the title.
According to Gavaskar, the home team should be termed as “favourites” due to their familarity with the surface and conditions. The 73-year-old pointed to India’s dominance in the 2023 World Cup, where they remained unbeaten before losing to Australia in the final.
“The tag of favourites should be given to the home team Pakistan as it’s not easy to beat any team in their home conditions. India lost in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 but before that they put up clinical performances and won ten matches on the trot. Hence, I feel Pakistan are the favourites for the upcoming tournament,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Eight teams are divided into two groups each. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and New Zealand form Group A, while Group B consists of Afghanistan, England, Australia, and South Africa. The arch-rivals, India and Pakistan will clash on February 23 in Dubai.
Fakhar Zaman feels India would’ve got “grand welcome” in Pakistan during Champions Trophy
The top-order batter Fakhar Zaman is likely to be named in Pakistan’s squad for the Champions Trophy. Notably, he hasn’t played an ODI since the 2023 World Cup and his last international appearance came in the T20 World Cup. He is currently playing in the International League T20 for the Desert Vipers.
Interestingly, Zaman slammed a century in the Champions Trophy 2017 final, which helped the Pakistan side to prevail over India by 180 runs.
Zaman recently stated that he enjoyed his time in India during the 2023 World Cup, where people showered their love on them. However, the 34-year-old also felt that the Indian team would have been accorded a grand welcome and better hospitability in Pakistan, if they hadn’t chosen to refuse to travel to the country for playing Champions Trophy.
“Yes, we will definitely miss (playing in India) as we enjoyed a lot during our visit there for the ODI World Cup 2023. We were delighted with the kind of support and the hospitality we got there. The locals gave us a warm welcome when we went to Hyderabad for the first time, they all showered their love on us. Yes, we will miss it all. If India had come to Pakistan, we would’ve given them an even grander welcome and hospitality but they are not coming. It’s fine, but we’re excited to play against them in Dubai,” Zaman told India Today’s sister channel Sports Tak.
