The Indian captain Rohit Sharma will be unlikely to attend the Champions Trophy opening ceremony meeting as the side will be in Dubai on February 15. With the ICC tournament set to be played in the ‘Hybrid Model’ India will play all their matches in Dubai.
The Champions Trophy 2025 is set to begin without an opening ceremony due to the late arrival of two teams for the marquee tournament, which is scheduled to commence on February 19.
While no official announcement was ever made, earlier reports suggested that a ceremony was planned by the host nation. The Champions Trophy features eight top ODI teams and will be played from February 19 to March 09.
With Pakistan is the official host of the tournament, with matches held in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore, while Rohit Sharma-led India will play their matches in Dubai.
Before the mega tournament begins, the host nation usually arranges a major event featuring all team captains. This includes a group photo and a press conference where they discuss their expectations.
However, the upcoming event will begin without an opening ceremony due to England and Australia’s delayed arrivals, as per the schedules to the ICC.
England will arrive in Lahore on February 18, while Australia is set to land on February 19. Bangladesh and Rohit Sharma’s side will reach Dubai on February 15 and Afghanistan will arrive in Islamabad on February 12.
Meanwhile New Zealand and South Africa will already in Pakistan to play a tri-nation ODI series in Lahore and Karachi from February 8-14.
“While the ICC and the PCB had shown interest in organising the opening ceremony, the arrival schedules of England and Australia teams, taking into consideration their players’ workload management, make it impossible to hold any event before the start of the tournament,” said an ICC source.
It is also confirmed that due to late arrivals both England and Australia have opted out of warm-up matches.
Each team is entitled to two warm-up games, but both have agreed to enter the tournament without any practice games, as they will have just concluded their respective ODI series.
“We never confirmed an opening ceremony, as this was neither officially scheduled nor it was confirmed by the ICC. It was always a work in progress,” a PCB source explained.
“While we had expressed our desire to host an opening event, it was always clear that any such ceremony would require the participation of all teams, which, given the current arrival schedules, is not possible,” the PCB source concluded.
The first match of the ICC event will be played between Pakistan and New Zealand on February 19 at National Karachi Stadium.
