Sunil Gavaskar picks the favourites for Champions Trophy 2025

20 January, 2025

The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will kick off on 19 February with host and defending champions Pakistan taking on New Zealand in the curtain-raiser in Karachi’s National Bank Stadium.

It’s worth noting that India will play all their matches in Dubai, while the rest of the tournament will be played across Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi in Pakistan.

The final is scheduled in Lahore on 9 March, unless India qualify, in which case it will be played in Dubai.

Sunil Gavaskar, during an interview, named Pakistan as the favorites, highlighting their home advantage as a major factor.

“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,” Gavaskar said.

The legendary batter cited India’s example of their dominant performance in the home ODI World Cup in 2023, where they remained unbeaten throughout the tournament before losing to Australia in the final.

“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,” he mentioned.

“Hence, I feel Pakistan are the favourites for the upcoming tournament.”