Tag: Defending Champions

  • Pakistan to host 2025 Champions Trophy as ICC announces 8 tournaments, Ramiz cheers

    Pakistan to host 2025 Champions Trophy as ICC announces 8 tournaments, Ramiz cheers

    Pakistan will host the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, which means that the Pakistan cricket team will defend its title in its own home ground. Pakistan won the last Champions Trophy in 2017.

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday confirmed the 14 host countries of the ICC men’s white ball events from 2024-2031. Eleven Full Members and three Associate Members have been selected to host two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups, four ICC Men’s T20 World Cups and two ICC Men’s Champions Trophy events.

    The USA and Namibia will host an ICC World Cup event for the first time. While Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe have previously staged major events and will do so again over the next decade.

    The hosts were selected via a competitive bidding process overseen by a Board sub-committee chaired by Martin Snedden along with Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Skerritt. The ICC Board accepted the recommendations of the committee who conducted a thorough review of each bid along with the ICC management. A similar process to identify the hosts for ICC Women’s and U19s events for the next cycle will be undertaken early next year.

    Reacting to the development, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja said, “It’s a matter of great pride and delight that Pakistan will be hosting ICC Champions Trophy 2025.”

    ICC Chair Greg Barclay said: “We are delighted to have concluded this competitive bidding process for the first time for ICC events. To have 14 Members hosting 8 events is a reflection of the truly global nature of our sport and I’d like to thank every Member that submitted a bid and offer our congratulations to the successful bidders.”

    “It is fantastic to be returning to so many previous hosts, but what is really exciting about this process is the countries who will stage ICC events for the first time including the USA which is a strategic growth market for us. This gives us the opportunity to deepen our connection with fans in traditional cricket nations and also reach new fans around the world.”

    2024 T20 World Cup: USA and West Indies

    2025 Champions Trophy: Pakistan

    2026 T20 World Cup: India and Sri Lanka

    2027 ODI World Cup: Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa

    2028 T20 World Cup: Australia and New Zealand

    2029 Champions Trophy: India

    2030 T20 World Cup: England, Ireland and Scotland

    2031 ODI World Cup: India and Bangladesh

    It should be noted that Pakistan is set to host Australia in 2022 and England will be visiting Pakistan next year with additional two T20Is that will be played in Pakistan after England’s chief Tom Harrison visited Pakistan.

  • Rizwan, Fakhar, Shaheen congratulate KPK for defending National T20 Cup Title

    Rizwan, Fakhar, Shaheen congratulate KPK for defending National T20 Cup Title

    Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who are currently in a bio-secure bubble for the ICC T20 World Cup and who were also the part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) team, congratulated their team for defending the title and beating Central Punjab at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday after Captain Iftikhar Ahmed produced an all-round performance.

    “Huge congratulations to the whole KPK as we have successfully defended our title. We decided in our very first meeting to play like warriors and Alhumdulillah we managed to do that successfully. What a team. What a performance,” wrote Rizwan while congratulating his team.

    Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Shah Afridi also took to Twitter to congratulate their team.

    The KPK captain completed the run chase by smoking Mohammad Faizan for a four through cover on the last ball of the 17th over and unleashed a roar in the Lahore night sky. He bagged the player of the final and the best player of the tournament awards.

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 152 for 3 (Iftikhar 45*, Ghulam 37) beat Central Punjab 148 (Shehzad 44, Akmal 42, Iftikhar 3-5, Imran 3-26) by seven wickets