Courtesy: PCB/BCCI
Ahead of the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan vice-captain Salman Agha emphasised that winning against India in the upcoming tournament is less important in comparison to bringing home the trophy. The 31-year-old was speaking on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast about the highly anticipated Group A match in the Champions Trophy versus India, which will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on February 23.
Notably, Pakistan are the hosts of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, but since the Indian cricket team aren’t travelling to the neighbouring country due to political issues, their fixture will be played at a neutral venue. India will be competing in the upcoming tournament, but all of their matches will be going down in the UAE, including the semi-final and final, if they manage to reach that stage of the competition.
If we beat India, but not win the Champions Trophy, then it won’t mean anything: Salman Agha
With Pakistan defeating India in the final of the last Champions Trophy in London in 2017, there will be an eight-year gap after which the tournament makes its return to the cricketing calendar with the coveted INDO-PAK clash. Salman Agha spoke about the importance of the big match, as per Times of India, “The atmosphere during the India-Pakistan match remains very different. As they say it is the biggest game in the world. But the thing is that is just one game, so winning the Champions Trophy is more important, rather than winning that one game.”
He also remarked that “if we beat India, but not win the Champions Trophy, then it won’t mean anything,” and “if we lose to India, but win the Champions Trophy, then it will be the biggest thing according to me.” Regardless, Salman Agha wanted to get the better of India, and said, “But we all want to win the India match, and we will try to win it. I will also try to give my best performance against them.”
Moreover, only two teams out of four in Group A, which includes New Zealand and Bangladesh apart from India and Pakistan, will make it through to the semi-final stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
