The ICC Champions Trophy is starting from today. Pakistan will host an ICC tournament after 29 years. The last ODI World Cup was held here in 1996. The opening match will be played between host Pakistan and New Zealand from 2:30 PM. Here's all you need to know about the Champions Trophy 2025 in 16 questions. 1. What is the format?
The tournament will be played between 8 teams in ODI format. Teams are divided into 2 groups of 4 teams each. Each team will play 3 matches in the group stage. After the group stage ends, the top 2 teams from both groups in the points table will reach the semifinals. The final will be played between both teams that win the semifinals. 2. Which teams are in which group?
Group-A has India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand. Group-B has Australia, England, Afghanistan and South Africa. 3. When will the knockout stage begin?
12 group stage matches will be played until March 2. Both groups will have 6 matches each. The first semifinal will be played on March 4 and the second semifinal on March 5. The final will be on March 9. 4. How many venues will host the matches?
Matches will be played at 3 venues in Pakistan and 1 venue in UAE. In the group stage, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Dubai will host 3 matches each. All three matches in Dubai will be India's matches. If Team India reaches the final, one semifinal and the title match will also be in Dubai, while the second semifinal will be played in Lahore. 5. What time will the matches start?
All matches will start at 2:30 PM Indian time. 6. What happens if the match is tied?
If a match is tied in the group stage, meaning both teams scored equal runs in their innings, the decision will be made through a super over. Both teams will bat for one over each, and the team scoring more runs will be the winner. 7. What if the Super Over also ends in a tie?
There will be another Super Over. Super Overs will continue until a result is achieved. If a Super Over cannot be played due to rain, the match will be considered a tie and both teams will share 1 point each. 8. What happens if it rains during the match?
If it rains, the decision will be made using the DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method. However, there is a condition for this. A minimum of 20 overs must be played in the second innings to use the DLS method. Under the DLS method, when overs are reduced, the chasing team gets a revised target. 9. What if the toss cannot take place?
In the group stage, if a match cannot be played on the scheduled day due to rain, it will be considered a no-result. This means both teams will get 1 point each. In case a result is achieved, the winning team gets 2 points and the losing team gets no points. 10. What happens if knockout matches are washed out due to rain?
There are reserve days for semifinals and finals. Both semifinals are scheduled for March 4 and 5. If a match cannot be played on the scheduled date due to rain, it will be played on the reserve day. March 10 has been kept as the reserve day for the final. 11. What happens if no decision is reached on the reserve day?
If the semifinal result is not achieved even on the reserve day, the team that finished top in the group stage points table will be declared the winner. If the final result is not achieved on the reserve day, the points table will not be given priority. In this situation, the trophy will be shared between both teams playing in the final. 12. What will the champion get?
ICC decided to increase the prize money before the tournament started. All teams will receive a total of 60 crore rupees. The winner will get around 20 crores, while the runner-up team will receive around 10 crore rupees. This time, both teams losing in the semi-finals will be given around 5 crore rupees each. 13. When were the warm-up matches played?
Only 4 warm-up matches were played between 4 teams on February 14, 16, and 17. The first match was between Afghanistan and Pakistan-A on February 14. On February 16, Afghanistan-New Zealand played a match. And on February 17, Bangladesh and South Africa faced two different Pakistan-A teams. 14. When will India's matches be played?
Team India is in Group-A. India's first match is against Bangladesh on February 20, second match against Pakistan on February 23, and third match against New Zealand on March 2. All team matches will be played in Dubai. If the team reaches the semi-final, the match will be played in Dubai on March 4. 15. Who are the players in Team India?
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammed Shami. Traveling Reserve: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. 16. Where can you watch the tournament?
Star has the broadcasting rights for the tournament. In India, viewers can watch matches on TV on Star Sports, Sports-18 and online on OTT platform JioHotstar. You can also read live scores, live coverage, moments, records, analysis and in-depth stories for the tournament on the Bhaskar English app.Original Article