ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Pakistan Hosts, India Plays in UAE — Pakistan's Record Third CT Title

The ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 was the ninth edition of the competition and was hosted by Pakistan in February-March 2025 — the first major ICC event hosted by Pakistan since the 1996 Cricket World Cup (co-hosted by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). However, India's cricket board (BCCI) refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan for security reasons, citing the political relationship between the two countries. The ICC brokered a hybrid model: India's matches in the group stage and any knockout matches India qualified for would be played at neutral venues in Dubai, UAE, while all other matches were played in Pakistan (Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi).

Tournament Progress and the Final

India qualified for the knockout stage and their semi-final was also played in Dubai. Pakistan qualified from the other group. The final was between India and Pakistan — played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 9 March 2025. Pakistan batted first and scored 320 for 7. India, chasing 321, were bowled out for 267 in 44.2 overs. Pakistan won by 53 runs. Fakhar Zaman, who had scored the century in the 2017 CT final, was again outstanding — his 134 in the semi-final set up Pakistan's run to the final. He was named Player of the Tournament. Pakistan's third Champions Trophy title (2009, 2017, 2025) is a record — no other team has won the CT more than once.

The Controversy of the Hybrid Model

The hybrid model was controversial on multiple levels. Pakistan and the PCB accepted the arrangement under pressure, with the agreement that they would receive compensation and that any future ICC event in India involving Pakistan would also use a neutral venue for Pakistan's matches. Critics argued that the arrangement set a precedent for politicising cricket. Others argued that player safety was paramount. The tournament was the first major cricket event attended by large crowds in Pakistan since a bomb attack at a cricket venue in 2008 had chilled international cricket's return to the country for over a decade.