look news india
The 2025 Champions Trophy is going to be a special tournament for cricket lovers, in which the method of organizing will be unique. This time the tournament will be organized on hybrid model. The matches will be played in Pakistan, but India will play its matches at a neutral venue.
Champions Trophy venue
Champions Trophy matches will be held in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad of Pakistan. However, no official announcement has been made yet regarding where India will play its matches.
India’s first match likely to be against Bangladesh
According to the report of RevSports, the tournament will start with the match between Pakistan and New Zealand. India will start its campaign against Bangladesh on the second day of the tournament.
After this, the match that cricket fans are most waiting for will be the high voltage match between India vs Pakistan. This match will be played on 23 February at a neutral venue. India’s third match will be against New Zealand on March 2.
group division of teams
8 teams will participate in the tournament, which will be divided into two groups:
- Group 1: Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Bangladesh
- Group 2: Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, England
The top two teams of each group from the group stage will make it to the semi-finals.
India’s refusal to go to Pakistan
India has refused to play in Pakistan due to security concerns. The Indian team has not played any match in Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. 150 people lost their lives in this attack.
The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was played in 2012. After this, both the countries have played against each other only in ICC tournaments or Asia Cup.
ICC’s decision to play the match at a neutral venue
ICC has clarified on this issue that all the matches between India and Pakistan during the 2024-2027 cycle will be played at neutral venues. This decision has been taken keeping in mind the political and security reasons between the two countries.