Former England captain and commentator Michael Atherton lashed out at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for calling off the men's and women's tour of Pakistan citing players' mental and physical welfare amidst concerns of traveling to the country.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Who can be the next RCB captain?

The ECB cited bio-bubble fatigue, physical and mental well-being of their players. As the reasons behind their decision to cancel the Pakistan tour. But Atherton wasn't convinced with the clarification. He further questioned how ECB is allowing a number of 2021 T20 World Cup-bound players to play in the ongoing second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) in the UAE. Moreover, saying England's withdrawal from the Pakistan tour is worse than BCCI's cancellation of the 5th Test in Manchester.

What Michael Artheron wrote in his column ?

"Citing player welfare is strange when the ECB has essentially washed its hands of its players' travel and cricketing commitments for three months of the year so that they can play in the Indian Premier League."

Michael Atherton, wrote in his column for The Times

"If, as an employer, it is so wary of bubble and cricket fatigue surely it should take more interest in the players' availability for the IPL? Now, of course, those who are playing in the tournament will be available for the knockout stages. It suits India and England, but not Pakistan. Who have no direct stake, their players being barred still from the competition."

Michael Artheron, said on Questioning ECB's decision

Read Also : MI Vs KKR IPL Full Match Preview, Match Details, And Dream11 Predictions

The Englishman added, "This decision is worse than England's withdrawal from South Africa last winter. And India's cancellation of the Manchester Test this month. While both those actions were hard to justify. They were at least understands given COVID had come into close proximity to both teams."

Atherton also said he understands that the "sense of anger and betrayal in Pakistan is real and understandable". Also, saying England should have shown gratitude for their magnanimity last year. When they toured UK amidst a raging COVID-19 pandemic.

The former England captain further mentioned that Pakistan's worst fears were always going to come true. As "low expectations of England's responses were duly met" after New Zealand called off their tour. And he doesn't think Australia's decision to tour Pakistan won't be any different next year.

However, he has admitted that a lot of players are suffering from bubble fatigue in the COVID-era, but still, the ECB could have picked a team to tour Pakistan.

Hello and welcome back to another LIVE coverage from Sportz Point. Today, we will cover the most highly-anticipated match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group Stage; as the Indian Cricket Team will take on the eternal arch-rivals Pakistan Cricket Team at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The iconic India vs Pakistan face-off always offers memorable moments and epic cricketing dramas. India will come to this game after a convincing victory over Bangladesh in their opening group game. On the contrary, Pakistan faced a tough defeat against New Zealand in their opening match.

Read Also | Champions Trophy 2025: India vs Pakistan match preview

Another chapter of this storied rivalry is set to be written today and we are about to witness that! So just relax and enjoy the epic clash as Sportz Point provides you with all the real-time updates, team news, live scores, and match commentary of the epic India vs Pakistan match in the ICC CT '25.

This is Soumit Bhattacharya, with the build-up. Later on, Payal Debnath and Koushik Biswas will take over to bring you all the LIVE Updates from the web desk.

Moreover, you can follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to get all the news and scores.

The Indian cricket team will be aiming to continue their winning momentum when they lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in their second Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, February 23.

India and Pakistan's matches have always been considered epic clashes in the ICC tournaments. In the last decade, the two teams have not faced much due to strained relations between the two countries.

Also Read: India vs Pakistan in ICC tournament results

Here is everything you need to know before the India vs Pakistan clash in Champions Trophy 2025. 

Match Details 

• Match: India vs Pakistan 
• Tournament: Champions Trophy 2025, 5th Match Group A
• Date: 23 February 2025
• Time: 2:30 PM IST
• Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

Streaming Details 

The live telecast of the India vs Pakistan match will be available on the Star Sports network in India.

The live streaming will be available on the JioHostar App and website in India.

India vs Pakistan: Head-to-head stats in Champions Trophy 

India have played Pakistan five times in ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan won the first two before India drew level with two wins in the next two occasions.

Pakistan went 3-2 ahead with a win in their last encounter in 2017.

Pakistan are ahead in terms of overall ODI record as well, having won 73 games and losing 57 (NR: 5).

The arch-rivals last met in the 2023 World Cup as India claimed a massive seven-wicket win.

Meanwhile, the two teams have clashed twice in Dubai in ODIs. India prevailed on both occasions.

Read Also | India vs Pakistan head-to-head stats in ODI cricket: Who leads in ODI cricket?

Pitch Report: Dubai International Cricket Stadium 

The pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is expected to be slow.

The same was witnessed in India's opener against Bangladesh as the Tigers were bowled out for 228.

Rohit Sharma's men then comfortably chased down the target.

Team News: India

Under Rohit Sharma, India hopes to add another Champions Trophy title to their 2002 and 2013 victories.

The team dominated Bangladesh in their opening match and pulled off a win, courtesy of Shubman Gill's century and Moahmmed Shami's fifer.

Also Read: Virat Kohli stats in ICC Tournaments

Team News: Pakistan 

Meanwhile, Pakistan suffered a 60-run defeat against the Kiwis in the tournament opener.

Key players like Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi are expected to play crucial roles in Sunday's match against India.

However, Pakistan's opening batter, Fakhar Zaman, has been ruled out of the tournament with an injury.

Imam-ul-Haq has been approved by the ICC as the opener's replacement. The latter is expected to open alongside Babar Azam in the upcoming game.

Possible Lineups

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

Fantasy team prediction: India vs Pakistan 

KL Rahul, Mohammad Rizwan, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Salman Agha, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Cricket's biggest rivalry India vs Pakistan will take center stage when both the neighbours take on each other in Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Sunday. Before both teams go at each other to win the bragging rights, here are the India vs Pakistan head-to-head stats in ODI cricket. 

Although India have always dominated Pakistan in ICC events, Pakistan have dominated India in overall ODI cricket. From the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistan used to give a strong fight to India in ODI cricket. However, post the start of 2000, India have started getting back to their neighbour with more wins in this format. After the stoppage of bilateral cricket between the countries, they only face each other in ICC events. 

Read Also | Champions Trophy 2025: India vs Pakistan match preview | Head-to-head stats, Possible XI, match prediction, streaming details

India vs Pakistan Head-to-Head stats in ODI cricket

India and Pakistan have faced each other 135 times in ODI cricket so far. India have won 57 times while Pakistan have emerged victorious 73 times. 5 matches have finished without any results.

India vs Pakistan head-to-head stats in ICC ODI events

Till now in ICC ODI events in men's cricket India and Pakistan have faced each other 13 times. India have dominated 10 times while Pakistan have won three times. 

India have never lost to Pakistan in ICC ODI Cricket World Cups. This means all of those three defeats have come in ICC Champions Trophy only. 

Read Also | India vs Pakistan in ICC tournament results

India vs Pakistan head-to-head stats in Champions Trophy

Pakistan have dominated India in the Champions Trophy so far. In the five matches they have played against each other in the Champions Trophy, Pakistan have won thrice while India won twice.

Australia started their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on a winning note as they chased down the highest successful chase in tournament history. Australia chased down England's 352-run target with 15 balls remaining in the match. Jos Inglish was the star of the show with his maiden ODI ton during the chase. 

Ben Duckett dismantled the Australian bowling lineup with a recurrent breaking 165, the highest score by a better in Champions Trophy history. But, Australia ensured they made the highest successful chase in ICC Men's ODI events. Here's everything you need to know from the England vs Australia ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match.

Smith decided to bowl keeping the dew in mind

Steve Smith won the toss and decided to field first keeping the dew in mind. Ben Dwarshuis dismissed Phil Salt early in the second over. Despite a flying start to the innings, Dwarshuis was able to send back Jamie Smith for 15 in the sixth over as England found them at 43/2 after 5.2 overs.

But, then it was the partnership between Ben Duckett and Joe Root that took them to a record-breaking score. They first accumulated well to get their first fifty from 48 balls while Ben Duckett completed his fifty off 49 balls.

Root and Duckett build a solid partnership for England

Joe Root did his part by completing his fifty from 56 balls as they reached the 100-run mark for the third wicket in 94 balls. But, post his fifty, Duckett changed his gear instantly and his skill against the Aussie spinners was a masterclass from the southpaw opener.

But, after Root was trapped in front of the wicket by Adam Zampa, Ben Duckett lost support from the other end and England missed out on maybe 10 or 15 runs at the end.

Duckett's 3rd ODI ton gave England the momentum

Duckett went on to get his 100 off 95 balls, his 3rd ODI ton. Then he changed to fifth gear alongside captain Jos Buttler. Although Buttler was caught in the deep by Nathan Ellis off Glenn Maxwell, Duckett continued his slog and soon reached 150 off 134 balls.

He was finally dismissed by Marnus Labuschagne on 165 off 143 balls. Archer added a quick 21 from 10 balls to take England's total to 351/8 in the first inning.

Australia got off a flyer but lost wickets early

Just like England, Australia got a quick start but lost two wickets early. Travis Head was dismissed on 6 off 5 by Jofra Archer in the 4th over while Steven Smith was dismissed by Mark Wood for 5 in the next over. But, then, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Short stitched a 95-run partnership to give others a platform to chase down the total.

With both Labushcagne and Short finding the gaps easily, they reached the 100-run mark in the 15th over and kept themselves in the chase. Meantime, Short reached his fifty in 47 balls but Marnus was outfoxed by Adil Rashid on 47 off 45 balls in the 20th over.

Though it looked a bit tough for the Aussies, who had not won a game in the ICC Champions Trophy in 16 years, they had batters with immense talent in the middle order.

Carey and Inglis steadied the ship

Jos Inglis, born in England, always had the game to win games for Australia, but needed to prove that now. Meantime, they had their most in-form batter in Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell to come as well.

Livingstone dismissed Short (63) with a sharp caught and bowled chance in the 23rd over and it was then the partnership between Inglis and Carey that took Australia near to home. For the 5th wicket, they put up 100 runs in just 78 balls while Inglis completed his fifty. Australia reached the 250-run mark in the 38th over and Carey also completed his fifty off 49 balls.

Maxwell and Inglis finished things off

However post Carey's (69) dismissal in the 42nd over, things could have gone either way but Glenn Maxwell made sure he made things easier for them. Inglis eased to his maiden ODI ton while Maxwell started hitting the ball powerplay from the other end.

In the end, it was a comfortable win for the Aussies as Inglis remained unbeaten on 120 from 86 balls while Maxwell was undefeated on 32 from 15 balls. All the English bowlers except for Adil Rashid went more than 6 runs an over and that made it hard for Jos Buttler to control the game.

Buttler accepted that the score was good from but the dew affected more than he had expected. "Both sides played well, credit to Australia. fantastic innings from Inglis. 350 is a pretty good score, but it was wet and the dew was a worry," Buttler said.

"The guys were outstanding. Matt Short played beautifully, Travis and I the only two to miss out," Australian captain Steve Smith said in the post-match presentation. 

Centuries from Tom Latham and Will Young helped New Zealand get an easy 60-run win over Pakistan in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. New Zealand posted 320 in the first inning while Pakistan were bundled out for 260 during the chase. Here are the highlights of the Pakistan vs New Zealand Champions Trophy 2025 match.

Pakistan won the toss, and Rauf made a return to the team

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and decided to bowl first, citing the dew factor. Haris Rauf was back in the team after sustaining an injury in the tri-series. for New Zealand, Rachin Ravindra was not fit enough to feature in this match. Will Young replaced him in the playing 11 while Nathan Smith was given a chance to hit the hard lengths with the ball.

Fakhar got injured early

Pakistan suffered an early setback as Fakhar Zaman got injured while chasing a cover drive from Will Young. Kamran Ghulam replaced him right away. 

Pakistan struck with quick three wickets

Just when everything was going well for New Zealand, Abrar Ahmed gave Pakistan the breakthrough they were looking for. Abrar got rid of Devon Conway with a ripper in his second over. The ball pitched on middle and leg stump and opened up Conway to get the ott stump. 

In the next over in a rare failure, Kane Williamson departed for one. This time it was Naseem Shah, who opened up Williamson with a brilliant delivery that came in and left enough to kiss the outside edge of the former Kiwi captain.

Read Also | India vs Pakistan in ICC tournament results

Haris Rauf then hit the hard length to induce a pull shot from Daryl Mitchell who went after adding 10 off 24 and New Zealand looked in trouble at 73/3 after 16.2 overs. 

But, Will Young made sure he grabbed this opportunity to score big alongside Tom Latham to bail out New Zealand. Young scored his first ton in Pakistan in 107 balls, which also was his first away international hundred. In the next over, Tom Latham also reached his fifty from 61 balls, to set up a platform to hit the fifth gear. 

But, as Young looked to shift up the gears, he was caught in the deep square leg by substitute fielder Ashraf off Naseem Shah on 107. At 191/4 in 38 overs, it was perfect timing for someone like Glenn Philips to come in for New Zealand.

Latham hit his first ODI ton since Nov. 2022

Latham started changing the tempo as well as he hit 14 off the last four balls from Abrar to spoil his spell. Abrar finished with 47/1 in his 10 overs. He southpaw batter then hit his first ODI ton since November 2022. He reached the landmark in 95 balls to become the fifth Kiwi batter to hit a ton in the Champions Trophy. 

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 📑

Today, Will Young and Tom Latham became only the 4th and 5th New Zealand 🇳🇿 batters respectively to score a Champions Trophy ton! 💯#ChampionsTrophy2025 #PAKvsNZ pic.twitter.com/fzaiss364c

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) February 19, 2025

Glenn Philips hits a devastating 61 from 39 balls

Pakistan were forced to have only four fielders outside the ring in the last overs, as opposed to the normal five after being penalised for the slow over rate. Glenn Philips and Latham took advantage of that to reach 320 in the first inning. Latham remained unbeaten on 118 from 104 while Philips was dismissed in the third last ball of the inning after a devastating 61 off 39 balls. 

New Zealand scored 113 from the last ten overs to challenge Pakistan with a total which looked impossible at first.

Horrible start for Pakistan with the bat

Pakistan started horribly after losing two early wickets. Will O’Rourke showed patience to dismiss Saud Shakeel on 6 from 19 in the fourth over. Glenn Philips then pulled off a stunner at backward point to get Pakistan’s second after a fighting 3 from 14 from captain Mohammad Rizwan. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fakhar Zaman, who could not bat at his favourite opening position due to staying off-field, tried his best with pain and suffering. Zaman fought hard to score 24 but off 41 balls. 

Though Babar took his time from the start, Salman Agha assessed the situation well to hit some boundaries to increase the run rate. Meantime, Babar completed his fifty in 81 balls while Agha got dismissed with a short ba by Nathan Smith after playing a brisk 42 off 28 balls. 

Tayyab Tahir (1) came in and was deceived by Mitchell Santner soon. With the asking rate creeping up, Khushdil Shah started smacking the Kiwi spinners and taking the game to them. 

Babar tried to do the same but only managed to get a top edge against Santner while trying a sweep after a slow 90-ball 64. 

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐳𝐚𝐦'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠? 🤔

Babar Azam scored a 90-ball 64 in a game where Pakistan are chasing 321.

The Pakistani opener had a strike-rate of 71.11! #PakvsNz #BabarAzam #PakistanCricket #ChampionsTrophy2025 #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/7JUYdNknuJ

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) February 19, 2025

Fightback from Khushil Shah

Khushdil completed his fifty in 38 balls but kept losing partners from the other end. After he was dismissed in the 44th over after a fighting 69 from 49 balls, Pakistan were nearly out of the game.

Pakistani tail tried to swing their bats but was finally all-out for 260 and lost the game by 60 runs. With this win, New Zealand achieved a +1.200 NRR, which can be very essential in a tournament like this.

Santner and O’Rourke returned with three wickets for New Zealand. 

Tom Latham was adjudged player of the match for his century.

Match Summary

𝐍𝐙 🇳🇿 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 🇵🇰

Pakistan were bundled out for 260 while chasing 321 in the second inning. #PakvsNz #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/p4B45lMBvh

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) February 19, 2025