DEfeating India in the match of the current champions trophy in Dubai on February 23 is a challenge for Pakistan, in particular in the light of the performance of their opening match against New Zealand.
The CIC champions trophy is the most prestigious ODI tournaments after the World Cup and the mother of all matches, Pakistan vs India in the Champions Trophy is played in Dubai.
As expected, the excitement surrounding the highly antiard-Pakistan Clash during the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy reached new heights, with tickets for the February 23 match in Dubai, which is sold within a period.
The bilateral series has become rare in recent years, their clashes in ICC tournaments offer exciting moments and are considered the ultimate confrontation of cricket.
The coherent performance of India in the events of the ICC in the past two decades have made it a great and almost preferred strength for the Dubai game.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has been unpredictable, capable of shining the day, as we can see in the 2017 Champions Trophy final and their race for the T20 2022 World Cup final.
The force of India lies in its depth of striker, with pillars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma offering constantly pressure situations. India must miss the services of the first fast bowler player Jasprit Bumrah, which is out of the Mega event due to a back injury, but the role of their spinners in the state of Dubai will be vital.
Since the beginning of 2023, five strikers from India – Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kl Rahul and Shreyas Iyer – have marked more than 1000 Run Odi, the four managers are 50 averages and more, more than 100 strike rates, or both.
Pakistan’s Trump cards have historically been their rhythm quasses and a talent to go up when they are the least anticipated.
But in recent matches, the performance Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf had not been up to par, conceding too many races, especially in the overs of death. If they play their potential, they have the ability to disturb even the most experienced Indian strikers, making Pakistan a dangerous opponent.
The coronation of Pakistan came to the ICC 2017 ICC trophy. After losing against India in the group phase, Pakistan organized a remarkable return to defeat their arc rivals by 180 amazing points in the final. This remains Pakistan’s only victory over India in the history of the ICC champions trophy, while India leads 2-1 in its head-to-head champions trophy.
The ICC champions trophy also organized several exciting meetings between the two parties. The 2017 final, held at the London oval, is remarkable for being one of the most important victories in the history of cricket in Pakistan.
Under the captain of Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan beat India by 180 points, affirming their first champions trophy. This victory was monumental not only for the scoring, but because it presented the capacity of Pakistan to get up for their arc rivals. It was the second time that the two teams met during a CPI final after the T20 final in 2007.
In 2017, the Trophy Round Round Game saw India at a 124 -point victory over Pakistan of Sarfraz Ahmed, whose alignment of striker collapsed at 164 all in 41 Overs.
But in the final, the opener Fakhar Zaman, who made his debut in Pakistan 11 days earlier, was rejected from a Bumrah jasprit without bullet and then scored 114 points out of 106 balls to help Pakistan achieved a goal of 339.
The pursuit of India was shaken by the opener Mohammad Amir, who rejected Rohit Sharma and Kohli during his first two Overs. The Shadab Khan leg spinner and the Hasan Ali tournament player added to the damage while India was rejected for 158 in 30.3 Overs. The 180 -point victory, Pakistan’s largest in Odi against India, brought the team to Green for his first title of Champions Trophy.
In the ICC cricket World Cups, India has a spotless record of 7-0 against Pakistan, a sequence that started in 1992.
Similarly, in the T20 World Cups, India leads 6-2, with Pakistan breaking the domination of India during the T20 World Cup in 2021 with a resounding victory on 10 gates.
In recent years, India has established a dominant record against Pakistan during the World Cup, with victories in 1999, 2003, 2011 and 2015. The semi-final of the 2011 World Cup, where India has triumphed in Mohali, was particularly important because it marked the pinnacle of this intense rivalry, leading to the possible World Cup of India.
In the international internationals (ODI), India has historically held an advantage over Pakistan in recent decades, but the global file remains competitive. In 2025, India led the ODIs with 56 victories compared to the 73 of Pakistan in their 132 matches, 4 that ended in any results.
However, the dynamics change with regard to ICC tournaments, where India has dominated Pakistan in high pressure games.
India faced Pakistan five times in the ICC champions trophy where Pakistan won three games and India appeared as winners in two games in February 2025. They clashed at once in the Champions Trophy 2004, 2009 and 2013 and twice in the 2017 Champions Trophy. once the two former winners of the ICC champions trophy will compete.
In another high pressure match against India, if the green quotes want to come out victorious against men in blue, they will have to focus on several key areas:
The new combination of Pakistan openers must provide a solid base, creating the platform with a decent execution rate for the average order to capitalize.
The opening partnership will be crucial to place the sub-press of Indian quisors.
Middle Order – Saud Shakeel, Kamran Ghulam, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah – are not very experienced in relation to the Indian intermediate order. Only Mohamamd Rizwan and Salman Agha have the capacity to play a long round, otherwise other drummers launched their counters after scoring 20-30 points.
In the mega event, Pakistan’s bowling alley according to the Pacers and they must be disciplined and precise from the start, targeting the first Indian order and exploiting any weakness. Quiters like Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf have the experience to manage the situation and they can play a central role in the restriction of the rating of India by taking the first counters.
The first breakthroughs will be essential to disturb the first -rate striker of India. Shaheen Afrida’s ability to swing the new ball could be essential.
The only specialized Spinner Abrar Ahmed with Salman Agha, Khushdil Shah, Khushdil Shah will be under-pressure against the strong Indian striker, in particular in the Middle Overs. They must be used strategically to break the crucial partnerships and control the execution rate.
Fielding can change the game in high pressure matches. Pakistan must be lively on the ground, taking captures and performing streams to maintain the pressure on the Indian drummers.
The mental aspect of the game is crucial, especially in a match with high issues like this. Pakistan players must remain concentrated, manipulate the pressure and not let the emotions enjoy it.
In -depth preparation and analysis of the Indian team’s strengths and weaknesses will be essential. Understanding the playing conditions and adapting them quickly can give an advantage to Pakistan.
A united team with strong support for coaches staff and management can make a significant difference. The encouragement and motivation of the sidelines can strengthen the confidence and performance of players.
For Pakistan to beat India, they must execute their plans perfectly. Green-shirts can increase their chances of beating India in the ICC Champions 2025 trophy and to raise the coveted trophy again.
While India remains a formidable adversary with experience and consistency on its side, Pakistan has shown in the past that they are able to script memorable upheavals. If Pakistan can combine discipline with assault and manage the pressure of a game from India, they could very well beat their arc rivals in the 2025 champions trophy and create another emblematic chapter of their cricket rivalry.
One of these three victories in Pakistan occurred in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the last time the tournament was played and it would be interesting to see how the defending champions Pakistan do their activities against India.
Defeating India in Champions Tropehy encourage seems more and more difficult for Pakistan, especially in the light of their performance in the opening match against New Zealand in Karachi where they lost by 60 points.
After the Kiwis displayed two consecutive scores exceeding 300 points in the trial against the home team, they also demonstrated their striker by exceeding the 300-point brand in the inaugural match and the three games won by New Zealand.
Bowling performance was disappointing because they granted a substantial total of 320 points for the loss of 5 counters. Subsequently, the range of strikers had trouble hunting the goal of 321, losing the match with a significant margin. A key problem for Pakistani drummers has been to maintain an adequate striking rate. After the halfway of 25 overs, they could only mark 83 points for the loss of 3 counters, which resulted in an execution rate of 3.32.
The match of February 23 is a DO or Die match for Pakistan, because a victory is essential to keep his hopes alive in the tournament. A loss would eliminate them from the competition, even with a match remaining against Bangladesh.
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