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Former Australian cricketer and ICC ambassador Shane Watson spoke about the importance of the ICC Champions Trophy ahead of the 2025 edition of the Champions Trophy which is scheduled to take place at Pakistan in February.
The International Cricket Council () in December 2024 announcing the fixtures of ICC Champions Trophy 2025. "The Champions Trophy is a special tournament from a playing perspective When you're playing bilateral series throughout the year, you can get a bit stale, whether that's from a playing perspective, but for the fans as well. when you play an ICC event and a Champions Trophy where there are only eight teams, there is something riding on every ball. As a team, you have to hit the ground sprinting. Otherwise, you'll be out like it was for the Australian team in 2013. It's an awesome tournament," Shane Watson said in the press conference. Further, the 43-year-old said that small teams get an opportunity to play in the ODI World Cup which is an amazing experience but "The beauty of the Champions Trophy is, that it's only eight teams, but it does mean that every game there's something riding on it. The World Cup, it's a great thing that the smaller countries get an opportunity to be able to play in a World Cup, which is an amazing experience, but to be able to distil that down and just have eight teams, whether it's eight teams or ten teams, but every team that you're playing against is incredibly good and every team knows going into every game they have to be their very, very best and there's not, apart from the stage in the World Cup when it moves into that, for it to start, for a tournament to be able to start so cut throat from that very first game, I love it. I love the thought of it being a high-end tournament where there is something riding on every ball," the former right-hand batter added. In the end, Watson concluded by saying that as Pakistan is hosting the mega event, it's a great chance for the fans there to see the players from around the globe live in the stadium from their eyes. "It's gonna be huge for the Pakistan cricket fans. To be able to have an opportunity for world-class cricket, to be able to be in the country. I was very fortunate to be able to experience it on a slightly smaller scale by playing in the Pakistan Super League in Pakistan. my first experience going back to Pakistan in 2019 after my previous experience in 2005. That was, to be honest, one of the highlights of my career. One of the best weeks that I had was going to Pakistan for the first time for a long time. and seeing just how much love and joy they have for the game of cricket. They've been starved of world-class live cricket. An ICC event to be able to be in Pakistan, the country is just going to light up. It's going to be so beautiful for the Pakistan people to be exposed to live, the best cricketers in the world playing in front of their own eyes," the former all-rounder added. Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi will be the three venues in Pakistan which will host the tournament. Each Pakistan venue will feature three group games with Lahore hosting the second semi-final. Lahore will also host the final on March 9, unless India qualifies, in which case it will be played in Dubai. Both the semi-finals and the final will have reserve days. The three group matches involving India, as well as the first semi-final, will be played in Dubai. Pakistan take on New Zealand in the Group A tournament opener in Karachi on February 19. The Dubai leg begins the following day with India taking on Bangladesh. Group B begins on February 21, with Afghanistan squaring up against the Proteas in Karachi. A big weekend then kicks off with rivals England and Australia set to clash in Lahore on Saturday ( February 22), with the much-anticipated Pakistan-India clash set for the day later. The eight sides in the Champions Trophy competing for the famous white winners' trophy and jackets are the teams that finished in the top eight positions on the points table of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. Group A of the tournament features current Champions Trophy holders and hosts Pakistan, along with India, New Zealand and Bangladesh, while Group B features Cricket World Cup 2023 champions Australia, alongside Afghanistan, England and South Africa. (ANI)
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