PCB finalise CT ceremony schedule

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday confirmed the schedule for the opening ceremony of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to take place next month.

Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi has approved all associated events.

The main opening ceremony of the aforementioned tournament will now take place at Hazoori Bagh in Lahore on February 16, with key national figures, prominent cricketers, and ICC officials expected to attend.

The opening ceremony of the upgraded Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will be held on February 7, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expected to attend as the chief guest.

A second ceremony is scheduled for February 11 at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, where former President Asif Ali Zardari is anticipated to be the chief guest.

This comes after the official opening ceremony originally planned for February 16, was cancelled due to the delayed arrival of two participating teams.

As a result, traditional pre-tournament activities, such as the captains' press conference and the official photoshoot in Karachi, have also been cancelled.

An ICC official, speaking anonymously, mentioned that both the ICC and PCB had shown interest in hosting an opening ceremony, but the schedules of England and Australia, as well as player workload management, made it impractical.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) have now confirmed their arrival schedules, with England arriving in Lahore on February 18 and Australia on February 19.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will feature eight teams competing in 15 matches from February 19 to March 9, across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Dubai. The teams are divided into two groups.

No captains' event

The captains' conference for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has been cancelled, as two participating teams will arrive in Pakistan later than expected. As a result, the usual pre-tournament events, including the press conference with all eight captains and the official photoshoot, will not take place.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma will not be attending the event in Karachi, putting to rest previous speculation by Indian media.

The decision to cancel the captains' event comes after the delayed arrival of several teams. According to sources within the International Cricket Council (ICC), England and Australia will be arriving later than planned. England will land in Lahore on February 18, while Australia's team is set to arrive in Pakistan on February 19.

Bangladesh and India are scheduled to arrive in Dubai on February 15, and Afghanistan will reach Islamabad on February 12. Meanwhile, New Zealand and South Africa will already be in Pakistan, following a tri-nation ODI series in Lahore and Karachi from February 8 to 14.

The late arrivals of England and Australia are primarily due to their ongoing series. England's team has opted for a one-week break after their extensive India tour, which finishes on February 12. Australia, following their Sri Lanka tour, will take a four-day rest period before traveling to Pakistan. Due to this tight schedule, both teams have decided to skip the warm-up matches, which had originally been allocated to them.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will feature eight teams competing across 15 matches from February 19 to March 9, with matches held in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Dubai.

The teams are divided into two groups: Group A has Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Bangladesh while Group B has Afghanistan, South Africa, England, Australia

Hosts Pakistan will kick off the tournament against New Zealand on February 19 in Karachi. The highly anticipated match between Pakistan and India is set for February 23 in Dubai.