Picture Credit: X
Australian cricket team on Monday, February 17 landed on Pakistan soil for the highly-anticipated Champions Trophy 2025, set to be played from February 19 to March 9, 2025. The Aussies will enter the marquee competition after facing a 0-2 drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in the ODI series held in the island country. In the absence of their key players, the Aussie side struggled in all departments of the game against the Charith Asalanka-led side. Pat Cummins, who picked up an ankle injury during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, failed to show up in the Sri Lanka series and will miss the marquee competition in Pakistan as well. In his absence, Steven Smith held the reins but failed to produce effective results with his leadership in the ODI series played in Sri Lanka.
Discussing their arrival in Pakistan, the two-time champions landed in two separate batches. The first group included captain Steven Smith, coach Andrew McDonald, and coaching staff coming from Colombo via Dubai while the second pack contained 15 players and two more members of the coaching staff. It is to be noted that the Aussies won’t be playing any warm-up games as they competed with Sri Lanka in the recently-concluded series.
Taking to X, Pakistan Cricket wrote, "The Australian cricket team has arrived in Lahore for the @ICC #ChampionsTrophy 2025! They will play their first match of the tournament on 22 February against England at the Gaddafi Stadium."
Australia will kick off their campaign against England on February 22
Australia will start their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against the Jos Buttler-led England at the Gaddafi Stadium on February 22. The Aussie side will miss the services of their key stalwarts including regular captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis.
Australia will be expected to leave an impact in the competition as they haven’t won any Champions Trophy matches since their second title victory under Ricky Ponting in 2009. Following the England contest, the Smith-led pack will square off with South Africa and Afghanistan on the 25th and 28th February respectively.
