Who: Pakistan vs India
What: ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Where: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
When: Sunday, February 23 at 1pm (09:00 GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera‘s live text and photo commentary stream of the match.

The host nation – and second favourites – Pakistan face the team tipped to win the tournament, India, at the Champions Trophy on Sunday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The match is arguably the biggest fixture in world sport with the two rival nations drawing huge television audiences and general attention from all parts of the globe.

As ever, there is plenty at stake, beyond the fierce rivalry between the two cricketing giants and neighbouring countries, with Pakistan defeated by 60 runs in their opening match against New Zealand on Wednesday. India, conversely, opened with a six-wicket win against Bangladesh on Thursday.

Why are India not playing their matches in Pakistan?

All of India’s matches will be played in UAE instead of Pakistan, the host nation of the 2025 edition. The move came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reached an agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Pakistan, that both nations would play all ICC events hosted in either country to be played at neutral venues until 2027.

When was the last time Pakistan hosted a major tournament?

International cricket in Pakistan has been heavily restricted in recent years following the attack by gunmen on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, which wounded six players.

Pakistan was shunned by top teams after the attack, and the Champions Trophy marks the first major global tournament to be hosted in the country in nearly 30 years. The last time Pakistan staged the global game was in 2006 for the Cricket World Cup, which they jointly hosted with India.

Why are defending champions Pakistan not the favourites?

Pakistan lifted the last edition of the Champions Trophy by beating India in the final in 2017, but the defeated finalists are the favourites for the tournament based on their consistency since then.

Pakistan have key match-winning players in the form of Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, both former captains, but the nation’s tendency to implode at any stage in any match and any series has led to a reputation that precedes them.

Off-field turbulence remains a huge hindrance as well – Gary Kirsten was appointed white-ball coach last year but he quit soon after and was replaced by the then Test-match coach Jason Gillespie. The former Australian bowler soon followed his South African predecessor in standing down – both appeared to be popular figures with the players.

The opening defeat by New Zealand, which saw the batting labour through the chase, highlighted how much Pakistan will have to overcome if they are to lift the trophy on home soil.

Why are India favourites to win the Champions Trophy?

India made harder work of the chase in their opening match against Bangladesh than was expected. Towhid Hridoy’s century should only have delayed the inevitable, but without Shubman Gill’s century in pursuit of 229, India could have been in deep trouble.

Rohit Sharma’s side reached the final of the last ICC one-day international tournament, where they were defeated by Australia at the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The loss was hard to take for the players and their fans – especially because it came on home soil in Ahmedabad.

The 2024 T20 World Cup victory softened the blow to some extent but a victory in the Champions Trophy to deny the host nation and rivals, Pakistan, back-to-back crowns will be a sweet return for Rohit’s men.

What are Pakistan and India’s records in the Champions Trophy?

Pakistan’s victory in the final against India in 2017 is their only triumph in the competition. India have twice claimed victory in the Champions Trophy, in 2002 and 2013.

Form guide – Pakistan

The opening defeat by New Zealand marked a third straight loss to the Kiwis, following two defeats in the pre-tournament tri-series with South Africa. Pakistan bring surprisingly good form to the tournament when on the road, however, so perhaps a match in Dubai will help. The men in green secured victory in the last three bilateral ODI series on their travels. A 2-1 triumph over world champions Australia was the highlight, but the 3-0 trouncing of a formidable South Africa side is not to be underestimated.

Form guide – India

India’s dominance in ODIs took a recent dip with a 2-0 defeat in the three-match series against Sri Lanka last August. That was their last series prior to England’s tour earlier this month.

The 3-0 series whitewash was a huge blow to England but a massive confidence boost for the Men in Blue on the eve of the tournament – as was Gill’s moment to shine in the opener against Bangladesh.

Last five ODI matches

• Pakistan: W L W L L
• India: L W W W W

Pakistan team news

Pakistan’s Champions Trophy hopes were not only hit by the defeat by New Zealand on Wednesday, but also the tournament-ending injury for Fakhar Zaman.

The opening batter valiantly strode to the middle in an attempt to help Virat Kohli and his side in the chase but the chest muscle injury was clearly hampering the 34-year-old, who was ruled out of a return to the team during this edition.

Imam-ul-Haq has taken his place in the squad.

India team news

India are likely to be unchanged from the side that beat Bangladesh in their opening game. The spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel will be looked to on the tweaker-friendly surface in Dubai.

Harshit Rana was given the nod ahead of Arshdeep Singh to replace the injured Jasprit Bumrah in opening the opening with Mohammed Shami. It is expected that India will go with this decision once again.

Pakistan squad

Squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice captain), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi

India squad

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy.