India joined England and Australia as captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir said no to practice games ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025. The BCCI decided against playing practice games as India are already playing a three-match ODI series against England which ended on Wednesday. The Indian team is scheduled to reach Dubai on February 15. They will play all their matches in Dubai.
India’s stance of not prioritizing warm-up matches before even key bilateral series is nothing new, but this will be the first time in recent memory that they will enter an ICC tournament without playing any warm-up games. Despite their busy schedule, they managed to play one practice game against Bangladesh in the last edition of the T20 World Cup, which they won.
The Rohit Sharma-led side, however, will enter the tournament as one of the prime favourites after beating England 3-0 in the ODI series that concluded on February 12. Besides having a power-packed side at their disposal, India will have the venue advantage. They are the only team who will play all their matches (right up until the final if they are through) at the same venue—the Dubai International Stadium.
They begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 12, followed by big matches against Pakistan (March 2) and New Zealand (March 2).
Pakistan pick A team for warm-up games
Coming back to the practice matches, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Afghanistan are the teams that will play warm-up games before the tournament starts on February 19.
Pakistan, the original host of the tournament, will feature in as many as three warm-up games. The only other team to play more than one warm-up match is Afghanistan. Pakistan, however, won’t field their main players in those matches.
The PCB announced an ‘A’ team which is called Pakistan Shaheens for the three matches against Afghanistan, South Africa and Bangaldesh.
India will not play any practice matches ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy even as Pakistan on Wednesday named three Shaheens squads (Pakistan A teams) which will feature in warm-up games against Bangladesh, South Africa and Afghanistan respectively.
The warm-up matches will take place between February 14 to 17 in the lead-up to the main tournament, which is scheduled to be held from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan and Dubai.
Afghanistan, South Africa and Bangladesh will feature in these three warm-up games on February 14 and 17 respectively. Afghanistan will also play a warm-up game against New Zealand on February 16.
These will be the final round of preparations for the sides ahead of the Champions Trophy.
South Africa and New Zealand are already in Pakistan, featuring in a tri-series with the home team.
Shadab Khan will lead the Shaheens against Afghanistan in Lahore on February 14, while two Shaheens teams will be in action in Karachi and Dubai on February 17. Mohammad Hurraira will lead the Shaheens against South Africa in Karachi, while Mohammad Haris will be the captain against Bangladesh in Dubai.
The New Zealand-Afghanistan warm-up match on February 16 will be played in Karachi.
Champions Trophy warm-up matches schedule:
February 14 – Pakistan Shaheens vs Afghanistan, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
February 16 – New Zealand vs Afghanistan, National Stadium, Karachi.
February 17 – Pakistan Shaheens vs South Africa, National Stadium, Karachi.
February 17 – Pakistan Shaheens vs Bangladesh, ICC Cricket Academy, Dubai.
All the games will be day-night fixtures.
Shaheens squad vs Afghanistan in Lahore: Shadab Khan (captain), Abdul Faseeh, Arafat Minhas, Hussain Talat, Jahandad Khan, Kashif Ali, Mohsin Riaz, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir Khan, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Imran Randhawa and Muhammad Irfan Khan.
Shaheens squad vs South Africa in Karachi: Mohammad Huraira (captain), Amad Butt, Faisal Akram, Hassan Nawaz, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Niaz Khan, Qasim Akram, and Saad Khan.
Shaheens squad vs Bangladesh in Dubai: Mohammad Haris (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdul Samad, Ali Raza, Azan Awais, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mubasir Khan, Musa Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufiyan Moqim and Usama Mir.
