The latest global white ball tournament gets underway on Wednesday when eight teams head to Pakistan and the UAE for the 2025 Champions Trophy, a fast-paced ODI competition which is completed in just over two weeks.
Pakistan won this competition the last time it was held eight years ago and they will be the host of what they hope will be a successful title defence. Seven other teams will go in search of the trophy in what looks a good tournament.
Recent Winners
2017 – Pakistan
2013 – India
2009 – Australia
2006 – Australia
2004 – West Indies
2002 – India & Sri Lanka shared the title
2000 – New Zealand
1998 – South Africa
The Format
The beauty of this competition, along with how quickly it is done and dusted, is how simple it is to follow. Eight teams begin the tournament and they are split into two groups of four where each team faces the other three in their group in a round robin format. At the end of that the top two in both groups progress to the semi-finals where the winner of Group A play second in Group B and vice-versa. The two semi-final winners go into the final which takes place on March 9.
Group A
Bangladesh smuggled their way into the tournament by finishing in the last spot in the table in the 2023 World Cup on net run rate. They won two out of their nine matches in that tournament and head into this competition much weaker on paper with the absence of Shakib Al Hasan since then. Bangladesh haven’t played an official ODI in 2025 and the last time we saw them in the format they were beaten 3-0 in West Indies and the Caribbean boys aren’t even in this tournament. The Tigers have something to prove here.
India are the complete opposite of that in this tournament. They head into it as the ODI World Cup finalists and the 20 over World Cup champions and are the emphatic favourites to get their hands on silverware here. As luck would have it, they will be the only team in the tournament that doesn’t have to travel with all of their matches now confirmed to take place in Dubai. India warmed up for the tournament with an emphatic 3-0 win over England and look the part. If there is a question mark it would be that they are without Jasprit Bumrah but they look the team to beat.
New Zealand often know how to come to the party whenever a global competition takes place. They still haven’t got their hands on any major white ball silverware since they won this tournament in 2000 but it certainly isn’t for the want of trying and most definitely not because they haven’t been competitive. They have reached four white ball finals since then but not got over the line but we should expect them to be competitive here, not least after warming up for the tournament by winning the Pakistan Tri-series recently and might benefit from not having to play India in the semi-final.
Pakistan complete Group A. They will have double motivation in this tournament as they are the defending champions and they host the event so they will be extra keen to win it. There are always question marks over a Pakistan side heading into any tournament but in the recent Tri-series with New Zealand and South Africa, their batting showed up which is very much a positive but their bowling sometimes left a bit to be desired and the lack of a top drawer standout spinner would be a concern. This is Pakistan. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they won the tournament and it wouldn’t be a shock if they bomb out in the group stage.
Group B
Afghanistan are the surprise qualifiers for the tournament as they prepare to make their debut in the competition. They had an excellent ODI World Cup and have continued to improve in white ball cricket since then. There is still a feeling that they are better suited at this stage in the 20 over format but they have a chance to remind everyone how dangerous they can be in these conditions. The one thing they have in their favour is conditions to suit so it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if they go well on debut here.
Australia will be looking to complete the 50 over double in this tournament having won the World Cup two years ago but they are seriously depleted heading into the competition with their three senior and best seamers missing the event through injury. When you add in that Marcus Stoinis has retired from ODIs and Mitchell Marsh has joined Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa on the sidelines, the Australian batting is going to need to get the job done for them and in these conditions that isn’t guaranteed.
England are another team who have a good white ball record in the last decade but who are coming here with a point to prove. They are a side who aged together and they might be paying the price for allowing that to happen and in a recent ODI series with India they looked nowhere near up to the mark. They have done some good things in Pakistan with the red ball in recent times but there is a question mark over whether conditions with suit England here and even if they do you wouldn’t want to rely on them not shooting themselves in the foot at some point.
South Africa were the finalists in the 20 over World Cup last year as they went as close as ever to shifting the chokers tag but if you go back to that final they had it all but won and still found a way to lose and until the Proteas get over the line in an event of this kind they are always going to have that tag to deal with. They are missing a couple of key bowlers for this tournament but scored well in the Pakistan Tri-series and certainly have the firepower to go well here. The problem would be if they don’t win the group they would run into India in the semi-final.
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Outright Betting
I do like this tournament because it is incredibly easy to follow with just one match taking place each day and we don’t have to tie up outright money for months on end because the competition lasts a total of 18 days. On the flip side, it is probably the most competitive format of the white ball events these days so finding the winner isn’t necessarily automatic. It is hard to see past India but you only need one bad day in this format and you could be done so I don’t really want to get stuck into a 7/4 shot in that situation.
The value in the outright market is very much with New Zealand for me. You would imagine that second spot in Group A is between them and Pakistan and having beaten Pakistan twice in the Tri-series last week you would have to give New Zealand an edge there. Were they to come through the group phase, there isn’t anyone in the other group I would worry about them coming up against in the semi-final and were they to win that semi we would have the each way money in the bag. At 8/1 the Kiwis are the bet here.
Top Tournament Batter
Another good thing about this tournament is that markets are priced up for the top batter and the top bowler and in the former I like a couple of players. As ever I’m looking for players who are going to bat in the top three and Kane Williamson looks an obvious pick at 16/1. It has been a while since he has had a run of consistent cricket without injuries but having played in the SA20 earlier in the year he then competed in the Pakistan Tri-series last week where he was the leading run scorer. We know that Williamson is one of the best batters of this generation and with no captaincy worries in this tournament and playing for a New Zealand side I expect to go well he looks the standout value in this market.
The other bet I like is the 33/1 on Rahmanullah Gurbaz. You get the feeling that Afghanistan will have a decent time of it in this tournament and they have been helped by nearly every half-decent new ball bowler in their group being injured so he could really cut loose during the powerplay and were he to get regular starts and then go on and turn one of them into a big innings then over a maximum of five innings for the two finalists he could easily put himself in among the top run scorers in this competition. He has played against the leading lights in the tournament for a while now and looks a big priced runner here.
Top Tournament Bowler
There is also the market for the tournament top bowler which is a lot harder to find some value largely because the best bowlers in the game have come out of the event with injury. As ever when you attack this market you have to determine who you want to bet on in terms of spin and seam and in this part of the world the natural selection is to go for a spinner. I’m happy to go along with that because when we have seen in recent ODI series in Asia that spinners bowl in the latter overs of the innings.
India are expected to go very well in the competition and so it would be a surprise if Ravi Jadeja doesn’t have a big tournament. He has just come through the ODI series against England where he looked in decent form with three wickets in both of his bowling innings. He is going to play in all of the India matches and there aren’t a huge amount of left handers in his group to get in his way either. Jadeja is in decent nick, this could be his final global tournament and so he won’t be lacking for motivation so he looks a decent bet in this market.
Team Bets
I’ll go with a few team bets over the course of the tournament as well with the first of those coming in the top Australia tournament batter market where Glenn Maxwell looks overpriced to me. In these conditions, especially with Australia playing all of their group matches in Pakistan, Maxwell could easily catch up his rivals in this market with some fireworks in the second half of an innings. It only needs one failure from Steve Smith and one from Marnus Labuschagne and Maxwell would be right in this. We saw at the World Cup how he can deliver the goods from down the order but he might even go up a spot with Marcus Stoinis having retired and at 6/1 Maxwell is overpriced, especially if Australia go out in the group stage and only get three innings.
I’m not always one for backing captains in these things but Mohammad Rizwan looked in excellent touch in the Pakistan Tri-series and were Babar Azam to fail a couple of times then Rizwan could easily be the one to take advantage. There is Fakhar Zaman too but he’ll be taking risks up top and could easily fail on a couple of occasions. There isn’t really anyone below Rizwan in the betting to be worried about so in what I consider to be a three horse race I think there is value in betting the outsider of the trio.
The other batter I like in the tournament is Ben Duckett to be the top England batter. He has a pretty decent record in Pakistan and he will bat at the top of the order where he will gain the advantage on the likes of Harry Brook and Jos Buttler who would be out of contention were Duckett to be successful. Duckett has the fielding restrictions in his favour and he is a decent player of spin and probably has a point to prove because you would imagine his place in the side is the one under the greatest threat from the back in favour Tom Banton and the likes of Will Jacks and Will Smeed. Duckett looked as good as anyone in India and can double down on that here.
Moving into the bowlers and there is only one bet that I fancy and that comes in the form of Taskin Ahmed to lead the wicket charts for Bangladesh. He is clearly the best bowler in this attack even allowing for Mustafizur being in the ranks. He hasn’t really stood out for a while whereas Taskin is wholehearted, has pace and hits the pitch which you have to do as a seamer in this part of the world. You would imagine the spinners will have a say but India and Pakistan are good players of spin and that might nullify the likes of Rishad Hossain. That leaves Taskin to pick up the pieces for me.
Tips
Back New Zealand to win Champions Trophy (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 9.00 with Sky Bet (1/3 1-2)
Back K.Williamson Top Tournament Batter (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 17.00 with 888sport (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
Back R.Gurbaz Top Tournament Batter (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back R.Jadeja Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-5)
Back him here:
Back G.Maxwell Top Australia Tournament Batter for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with Coral
Back M.Rizwan Top Pakistan Tournament Batter for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with Betway
Back B.Duckett Top England Tournament Batter for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with Spreadex
Back T.Ahmed Top Bangladesh Tournament Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 3.80 with Betway
