In Pakistan, the 2025 Champions Trophy is scheduled to start on February 19. The Men in Green, led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, defeated fierce rivals India in the 2017 tournament final to win the title, and the team captained by Mohammad Rizwan will be looking to defend it. Sarfaraz reflected on his moment of glory and evaluated the team’s chances of making history ahead of a new iteration of the eight-team competition. As stated to ICC:

The players, supporters, and Pakistan are all prepared for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, an event that has been planned for 29 years.

It would be an understatement to say we are giddy with anticipation for Pakistan’s match against New Zealand in Karachi next week, which will be the first senior ICC game to be hosted in my native country since 1996.

The opening match will begin three weeks of exciting cricket in a competition that transformed my life, and Karachi is a suitable host. My favourite day of my cricket career was when I won this trophy in 2017. Even though the anniversary was eight years ago, I still get chills every June when I see videos on social media about it.

I believe Pakistan has a quality team and a great chance of retaining that title. We’re talking about some of the greatest, particularly Babar Azam, and some of the youngsters from 2017 are still there.