ICC tournament in Pakistan from today

After a gap of almost eight years, the wait of cricket fans will end on Wednesday. The prestigious ICC Champions Trophy will begin from Wednesday. The entire country has high expectations on the organization of this tournament, which is being held in Pakistan after 1996. This tournament, which will be held as the 9th edition, will be held in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 to March 09. This is a golden opportunity for Pakistani cricket, which has been serving an unofficial punishment for 15 years of absence from major tournaments at home due to the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009, to erase that stain and proudly proclaim to the world that 'our country is safe'. The first match will be held between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday. The highlight of the tournament is the India-Pakistan match in Dubai on the 23rd of this month. All the matches will start at 2:30 pm IST . The teams have been divided into two groups. Group A includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand, while Group B includes Australia, South Africa, England and Afghanistan. The teams will play each other in the group stage in a round-robin format. The top two teams in this stage will qualify for the semi-finals.

India as favourites

India is entering the tournament as the favourites to win the title. The last time India won the trophy was in 2013 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, they lost to Pakistan in the final in 2017. Rohit Sharma's team is determined to end their 12-year wait by winning the title this time. India, which recently swept the ODI series against England 3-0, is in excellent form. They are set to dominate the tournament with a combination of batting, bowling and fielding.

Final tournament

This is probably the last ICC ODI tournament for India's captain Rohit Sharma and run-machine Virat Kohli, who are emerging as giants in the ODI format! It is greedy to think that the duo, who are already at the peak of their careers, will play in the 2027 ODI World Cup. There were speculations that 'Rocco' would say goodbye to this format with the 2023 ODI World Cup, but India's collapse in the final stage of that tournament disappointed them. Despite being plagued by age and lack of form in recent times, these giants, who excelled in the ODI series against England at home, have come to their senses.Champions TrophyIt will be interesting to see what they do in the tournament. Along with Rocco, this could be the last ODI tournament for cricketers like Aussie captain Steve Smith, Kiwis star batsman Kane Williamson, England legend Joe Root, and former Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi.