Two-time winners Australia will be on a quest to regain the Champions Trophy title after a gap of 15 years. They had won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2009 but have failed to reach the finals in the 2013 and 2017 editions, after which the event was discontinued. For the 2025 edition, the reigning 50-over World Cup winners are placed in the four-team Group B which also includes England, South Africa, and Afghanistan. Australia will open their campaign with a clash with arch-rivals England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 22.

Be seized by injuries, Australia will be hoping to come out unscathed from the league phase and go into the semifinals without losing a single match. But it could be easier said than done for the depleted squad that is missing five first-team players as they found out in losing 0-2 to Sri Lanka in the ODI series after blanking the hosts in two Tests in Galle.

With the Champions Trophy set to start on February 19 with a match between host Pakistan and New Zealand, Australia will be looking to overcome a slew of setbacks in recent times to go all the way. Here’s an IANS SWOT analysis for Australia’s campaign in mega event.

Strengths: With proven white-ball experts like Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell in their ranks, Australia have a strong batting line-up. Steve Smith returns as captain, substituting for regular skipper Pat Cummins who is recuperating from an injury. They have brought in some young turks, who would be eager to prove themselves. In Adam Zampa, they have a spinner capable of exploiting the conditions offered in Pakistan. With the addition of leggie Tanveer Sangha and some young fast bowlers, Steve Smith’s Australia will be hoping to put up a strong fight in every match.

Weaknesses: The inexperienced bowling attack could prove their achilles heel in the absence of Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and pace-bowling all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, who quit cricket recently. Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis, along with Nathan Ellis and Aaron Hardie will be hoping to breach the gaps left by the absence of experienced fast bowlers. Their batting looks more balanced than their bowling attack and that derails them in crucial matches against strong and better-balanced sides.

Opportunities: With the infusion of young blood to make up for the loss of exceptional campaigners, Australia come into the Champions Trophy with confidence in their domestic structure that regularly produces world-class players. Despite being battered by injuries, Australian players have the pedigree and skillset to overcome setbacks. Teams can’t afford to underestimate Australia, as they have players that can turn things around on their own on any given day.

Threat: The major task for Smith and the Australian team management will be to put on the field a strong side with the right balance of experienced and young players. The first challenge for them will be to win the group, as that would allow them to avoid the in-form side from the other group in the semifinal. In England, they have an opponent that has been battered by India in the recent white-ball series. South Africa too have been weakened by injuries to some key players, while Afghanistan is capable of surprising any team on their day.

Australia will have to put their best foot forward in each match if they have to go all the way. They can’t afford to make a lot of mistakes.

Australia had Sri Lanka three down after opener Usman Khawaja‘s first double century and a ton on debut by Josh Inglis helped the tourists to 654-6 declared in the first match on Thursday. Sri Lanka were 44-3 by stumps on day two at Galle with senior batsmen Dinesh Chandimal, on nine, and Kamindu Mendis, on 13, on guard until rain stopped play. Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann struck first to have Oshada Fernando lbw and soon pace spearhead Mitchell Starc got Dimuth Karunaratne caught at gully. Both batsmen made seven.

Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon then sent back former skipper Angelo Mathews out for eight with Travis Head taking a diving catch at short leg.

Khawaja’s 266-run third-wicket partnership with Steve Smith, who hit 141 in a landmark innings that got the stand-in skipper to 10,000 Test runs, stood out after Australia elected to bat first at the start of the two-match series.

It was the first time the tourists had breached the 600-run mark in Sri Lanka, surpassing their previous Asian high of 617, posted in Pakistan in 1980.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey was unbeaten on 46 with Mitchell Starc on 19 when Smith declared the first innings in the final session.

Inglis made it count when he walked in after Smith departed on 141 in a landmark innings that got the stand-in skipper to 10,000 Test runs.

He made 102 and with Khawaja kept up the batting surge in a 146-run stand to tire out the opposition attack.

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya broke the partnership to get Khawaja caught behind as the opener walked back after 352 balls that included 16 fours and one six.

Inglis reached his ton off 90 balls as he jumped in delight and punched the air.

But he got out in the next over as he gave away a catch to short cover off Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya and fellow spinner Jeffrey Vandersay took three wickets each as Sri Lanka toiled for 154 overs.

The tourists resumed on 330-2 as overnight batsmen Khawaja and Smith frustrated the opposition attack on a sunny morning.

Khawaja took a single off Jayasuriya to reach 200 as he removed his helmet, raised his bat and dropped down to kiss the turf while teammates and fans stood up to applaud.

His previous best was an unbeaten 195 against South Africa in 2023 at Sydney and he is now the first Australian batsman to make a double ton in Sri Lanka.

Team Australia in action© AFP

Ricky Ponting and Punjab Kings (PBKS) splashed out over Rs 110 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, and made three of the five biggest purchases of the two-day event. Shreyas Iyer was bought for Rs 26.75 crore, while Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh each received Rs 18 cr. However, another aspect of PBKS’ auction strategy was signing as many as five Australian players in their squad, with Ponting probably having a large say in the matter. Ponting defended the decision to pick so many Australians.

Punjab Kings bought all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell, wicket-keeper batter Josh Inglis, all-rounder Aaron Hardie and pacer Xavier Bartlett in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

“I’ll probably get some criticism. I think we have got five Aussies out of our complement of eight overseas,” admitted Ponting after the auction.

“But when you look at the slots that we needed, the players that we have got fitted into those roles perfectly,” Ponting stated.

Three of the Australians – Stoinis, Maxwell and Inglis – are likely to form a major part of PBKS’ first XI as well, given their all-round and wicket-keeping abilities respectively. Stoinis was the most expensive of the lot, fetching Rs 11 crore in the auction.

“To have Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell back to Kings is huge as they have both played here in the past. A couple of new guys, including Xavier Bartlett, Aaron Hardie, and Josh Inglis, are coming into the IPL for the first time, which is also really exciting for us,” Ponting added.

Punjab Kings – back then known as Kings XI Punjab – was Stoinis’ very first IPL franchise, between 2016 and 2018. On the other hand, Maxwell will don the Punjab Kings red for a third spell in his career.

Maxwell also won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award when Punjab played the IPL final (and last qualified for the playoffs) in 2014.

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Former Australian Test captain Tim Paine has expressed frustration with the heavy criticism aimed at Australia’s ODI team following their recent 1-2 series defeat to Pakistan. Despite a promising start with a win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the Aussies stumbled in the subsequent matches, suffering comprehensive nine-wicket and eight-wicket losses at the Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium, respectively. These defeats have sparked discussions over the state of Australia’s ODI squad, with some commentators labelling the series loss as a “disaster.”

Speaking on SEN Tassie, Paine voiced his discontent with what he sees as an exaggerated reaction, particularly from established cricket analysts.

“That annoyed me. People were saying, ‘Oh, I can’t believe how bad the Australian cricket team are,’ and these are cricket commentators—world-class commentators—saying, ‘I can’t believe what I’m watching; this is the World Cup holders’. But it’s not. The World Cup holders are sitting on the couch getting ready for a Test series.”

Paine explained that the absence of key players, including Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, and Josh Hazlewood, who missed the series entirely, along with Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Mitchell Starc, who only played in parts of the series, made a significant difference.

These absences were due to the players’ need to prepare for the upcoming Test summer and other critical red-ball engagements, including an important series against India. Paine highlighted that the team on the field wasn’t representative of the World Cup-winning unit but was instead filled with emerging talents learning to play at the top level.

“We’re blooding some youth to give them experience at the international level whilst the big boys get ready for two hugely important series – one in Test cricket and one in white-ball. Relax. It’s okay,” he said.

The World Cup-winning side’s absence was deeply felt, as Australia managed scores of only 163 and 140 while batting first in the second and third ODIs, respectively.

Saim Ayub hit 42 and Abdullah Shafique 37 as Pakistan raced to a commanding eight-wicket victory and their first one-day series win in Australia for 22 years on Sunday. After bowling out the woeful world champions for a miserly 140 at Perth Stadium, Mohammad Rizwan’s team reached their target in the 27th over. The impressive performance, aided by high-quality bowling from Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, ensured a first ODI series win in Australia since 2002.

They lost a tense opening match in Melbourne by two wickets, but bounced back with an emphatic nine-wicket victory in Adelaide.

“It’s a special moment for me and the fans,” said captain Rizwan. 

“I’ll give all the credit to the bowlers. Australia in Australia is not easy. 

“But Saim and Abdullah have given us a couple of great starts, too,” he added.

“The fans love us regardless of whether we win or lose and I really appreciate that.”

The hosts rested Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in Perth ahead of the Test series starting this month against India, and they were missed.

Shafique and Ayub began aggressively and rode their luck, with little spark from the bowlers.

Ayub, who smashed 82 in Adelaide, survived two dropped catches, by Lance Morris and Spencer Johnson, as he swung the bat.

Shafique was also put down on 28, by Adam Zampa, as they reached the halfway point in the chase without loss in the 14th over.

Australia finally got a reward when Morris caught and bowled Shafique and then bowled Ayub five balls later.

But Rizwan (30) and Babar Azam (28) kept calm to steer them home.

Outplayed

Rizwan won the toss and sent in Australia, who were no match for Afridi (3-32), Shah (3-54) and Rauf (2-24).

Sean Abbott top-scored with 30 before they were bundled out in the 32nd over.

“It’s pretty disappointing, to be honest,” said skipper Josh Inglis.

“I think after probably the first three-quarters of the first game (in Melbourne) we were totally outplayed.

“Not enough runs on the board in games two and three.”

Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short again opened, desperate for runs after failing to make an impact at Melbourne and Adelaide.

But on a pitch suited to the quick bowlers Fraser-McGurk once more flopped, nicking a swinging Shah delivery to wicketkeeper Rizwan on seven.

Aaron Hardie, at three in place of Smith, lasted 13 balls for his 12 before being caught at slip off the dangerous Afridi.

That brought Inglis to the crease, but he too departed cheaply for seven, skying a Shah bouncer that Rizwan collected to leave Australia on 56-3 in the 11th over.

Rauf then accounted for Short (22) before youngster Cooper Connolly, in only his second ODI, was forced to retire hurt on seven after a blow to his hand.

Out-of-form Glenn Maxwell only survived two balls with Rauf bagging him for the third time this series, caught at point by Ayub, while Marcus Stoinis added just eight to the score as Australia stumbled to 88-6.

Abbott and Adam Zampa (13) shared a handy 30-run partnership before the tail was mopped up.

Australia vs Pakistan 2nd ODI Highlights© AFP