The Indian men’s cricket team will face archrivals Pakistan in the group stage of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 on February 23. The match will take place in Dubai.

Groups, draws and the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 schedule was announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday.

Set to return after an eight-year hiatus, the upcoming edition of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy cricket tournament will be an eight-team affair encompassing 15 matches.

The teams will be divided into two groups and after round-robin matches, the top two from each group will advance to the semi-finals. The 19-day tournament starts on February 19 and ends on March 9.

ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 teams and groups

Group A: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand

Group B: Afghanistan, Australia, England, South Africa

Defending champions Pakistan will be the primary hosts for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 with matches scheduled in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.

Pakistan will be hosting its first major global tournament since the ODI World Cup in 1996.

UAE, meanwhile, was confirmed as the neutral venue with Dubai hosting all the India matches.

The first semi-final will be held in Dubai on March 4, which will feature India should they qualify. The second semi-final on March 5 in Lahore will feature Pakistan if the hosts make the top four.

If India qualify for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 final on March 9, the summit place will be played in Dubai. In any other scenario, Lahore will be the host for the final.

The first edition of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy was held in Bangladesh in 1998, with South Africa crowned the inaugural champions. India and Sri Lanka shared the honours in 2002.

West Indies (2004), Australia (2006 and 2009), India (2013) won the subsequent editions before Pakistan won it in 2017 when the tournament was last held.

ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 schedule

All in Indian Standard Time (IST)