ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Qualification scenario, teams, schedule, hosting rights

• ICC unveiled the shocking qualification scenario for the Champions Trophy 2025.
• The top seven teams from the World Cup group stage will qualify.
• England may miss out on the CT25.

One of the most prestigious tournaments of the International Cricket Council, the ICC Champions Trophy, will be played after a long gap of eight years in 2025.

Pakistan is given the honor of hosting this prestigious tournament. But there are some dark clouds looming over the rights to host.

It is pertinent to mention that in the last edition of the CT, the Men in Green emerged victorious as they thrashed their arch-rivals India in the final. Pakistan won the game by a whopping 180 runs. This is also to be noted that the Men in Green lost to India in the group stage where the Men in Blue defeated Pakistan by 124 runs (DLS method).

What is the format of the CT25?

The tournament is played with eight teams divided into two groups of four each. The top two teams from each group qualify for the semifinals and then the two winning teams clash in the final.

The tournament is played in 50-over format.

Qualification scenario

The ICC most recently announced the qualification scenario for the Champions Trophy 2025. The top seven teams at the end of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 group stage will make it to the CT25.

The ICC spokesperson confirmed to the international cricketing media that the decision was approved by the ICC board back in 2021.

CT25 qualification at stake

The news of qualification criteria came as a surprise to some of the cricket boards that are not a part of the World Cup as well as those who are currently a part of it.

The boards said that they were not aware of the fact that the qualification for the CT25 was at stake in the World Cup.

Who is on the brink of dropping out from CT25?

With the progress of the ICC World Cup 2023, we have seen some upsets including the Netherlands defeating South Africa, and Afghanistan outperforming the defending champions England.

England and Bangladesh are at the bottom of the points table currently with only one win from six matches played.

Jos Buttler, England’s skipper said, “Yeah, I’m aware of that,” when he was asked about id he knew that a spot in the CT25 was at stake after their defeat against India by 100 runs. “And absolutely, it just proves that we’ve still got lots to play for.”

With only three matches remaining, both teams need to level up their performance to make it into the top seven.

Who will miss the CT25?

As mentioned above only the teams who finished the top seven in the group stage of the ICC World Cup 2023 will take part in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This means that the teams who missed out on the qualification for the World Cup will not be a part of the upcoming tournament.

West Indies, Ireland, and Zimbabwe will not be a part of the tournament.

What about Pakistan?

As per the rules, Pakistan has directly qualified for the CT25 due to hosting rights.

It is pertinent to mention that the Men in Green are currently ranked sixth in the World Cup points table. The Green Shirts have only managed to win two games out of six played.

The team can still qualify for the semifinals if and only if they manage to win all the remaining matches (against Bangladesh on Oct 31, New Zealand on Nov 4, and England on Nov 11) with great margins to boost their net run rate and rely on the other matches results.

Will the CT25 be a hybrid tournament like Asia Cup 2023?

At this point, it can not be said that the tournament will be either a hybrid or completely hosted by Pakistan.

It is worth mentioning that the recently finished Asia Cup 2023 was also set to be hosted by Pakistan, but due to India intervening made it impossible. They refused to travel to Pakistan due to “political tensions” between the two nations.

But one point should be highlighted that this is an ICC event while the Asia Cup was of a single continent. So it might be possible that India will travel to Pakistan.

It was mentioned that the teams who finish in the top seven in the group stage of the ICC World Cup 2023 will be a part of the Champions Trophy 2025. Let’s wait and see how the World Cup goes as there are still 16 matches remaining including the one in progress today (Oct 30).

Schedule for CT25

Te CT25 is scheduled to start somewhere in February 2025. However, the exact dates and venues are yet to be announced by the ICC.

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