ICC Champions Trophy preview

The 2025 ICC Champion Trophy gets underway on Wednesday when host nation Pakistan take on New Zealand.

Eight teams are set to battle it out over the next couple of weeks, with the final set to take place on Sunday 9th March.

Pakistan qualified as the host nation, while Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, India, England, New Zealand and South Africa make up the competition.

India, who have already won the ICC Champions Trophy on two occasions, are the hot fancies to make it number three in 2025.

2025 ICC Champions Trophy format

The eight teams are divided in to two groups of four and will play each other once.

Group A: Bangladesh, New Zealand, India, Pakistan.
Group B: Afghanistan, Australia, England, South Africa.

The top two from each group will progress through to the knockout stages, which consist of two semi-finals and a final.

India are the hot fancies at 1.57 to win Group A, while Pakistan can be backed at 4.50 to finish top of the pile.

Group B looks to be a tighter affair. Australia are 2.62 to win the group with South Africa and England both priced at 3.40.

Aussies hit by bowling concerns

Australia can be backed at 5.50 to win the ICC Champions Trophy, but the jury is out after a number of big players failed to make the squad.

The biggest concern for Australia is the bowling attack as Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Marsh were ruled out through injury.

Not only that, Mitchell Starc withdrew for personal reasons, while Marcus Stoinis announced his shock retirement after being named in the original 15.

Australia do have strength in depth in the bowling department, but it will be tested, and they cannot afford any more injuries.

Nathan Ellis is set to play a massive role for Australia, while Spencer Johnson will help fill the void left by Mitchell Starc.

A lot of the responsibility will rest on the shoulders of experienced legspinner Adam Zampa.

Zampa can be backed at 2.00 to be Australia’s Team – Top Bowler throughout the tournament, with Ellis available at 4.50.

Smith leads experienced batting line-up

Australia are looking more solid when it comes to the batting line-up and have plenty of experience in the 50-over format.

Travis Head, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell will be relied upon to pile on the runs, while Alex Carey is a safety blanket further down the order after rediscovering his best form.

Matt Short is set to open alongside Head and has shown what he can do in T20 cricket. He now just needs to step up to the plate in the longer format.

Head is 2.87 to be Team – Top Batter throughout the tournament, with skipper Smith available at 3.25.

England first up for Aussies

Australia could not have a bigger opening match at the tournament as they face England on Saturday evening, 19:00 (AEST).

Australia did not have the ideal lead-up to the tournament when losing a two-match series against Sri Lanka 2-0.

They will need to raise their game on Saturday and can be backed at 1.72 to start with a win, while England can be backed at 2.10.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.