Team England in action© BCCI

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.

Intrigue, uncertainty, backstage drama. The ICC Champions Trophy has seen it all even before the curtains go up on the tournament and it would only get more stirring over the next three weeks, starting with the opening clash between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi. Eight teams will vie for a trophy, often talked up as tougher to win than the World Cup, and also to script a new chapter in their own cricketing story. While India will fight it out in Dubai, others will be primarily based in Pakistan, which would get to host its first ICC event since the 1996 World Cup.

Several barriers had to be hurdled over to cobble this tournament together after eight years. The tournament is also crucial amid the raging debate on the relevance of ODI cricket, which is struggling to find its space amid the rage for T20 cricket and the devotion for Test format.

Perhaps, no other cricketing event in the recent past has been harried so much by long-standing geopolitical tensions, stubbornness by administrative boards of two important participants, and the nail-biting anxiety over the readiness of venues in the main hosting nation.

The chaos has been an endearing throwback to the 90s when cricket in the sub-continent resembled a hastily organised party.

But all these pre-tournament jitters will be forgotten once the teams enter the field, and the first of them will be Pakistan and New Zealand.

If anyone needs a reminder, then Pakistan had won the last edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017.

The opening match in itself is a curious clash — a talented-yet-volatile Pakistan unsure of its own destiny against a team for which order is everything.

But the blue riband match of the tournament will be on February 23 when India take on Pakistan, ushering in customary waves of nostalgia, emotions, political grand-standing, and the social media battle.

That marquee showdown will be in Dubai as India remained steadfast in its refusal to set foot on Pakistani soil owing to security concerns.

Last dance of Kohli, Rohit?

But beyond such team equations, certain individual players would want this tournament to be a memorable one.

On top of the list are India’s batting talismans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. They have been magnificent servants of the game over the last decade and half.

Few in modern era were able to match their achievements and aura. But now, these two titans have reached the last lap of a long race, and would want to bow out in a blaze of glory.

It’s tough to imagine Kohli and Rohit being part of India’s ODI set-up after the Champions Trophy irrespective of the outcome.

It might even impact their future in Test cricket, as a lukewarm outing here might force the selectors to mull over their role ahead of India’s tour to England in June.

Similarly, a failure to win the Champions Trophy will bring the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir under scrutiny.

Gambhir might have received a temporary relief after India’s domination over England in the recent home series, but not it wouldn’t be enough to brush under the carpet, India’s recent travails against New Zealand and Australia.

But a global trophy will certainly give him a much better ground to stand.

From a team perspective, India will be eager to wrest their first ICC trophy in the 50-over format after their triumph in the 2013 Champions Trophy under the enigmatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

It will be a perfect parting gift to Kohli and Rohit and a welcome carpet to some young names such as Shubman Gill who are set to take India into the future.

The challengers

India are playing a brand of ODI cricket that makes them instant favourites to win the tournament. They have adopted an aggressive approach and have a varied line-up, brimming with talent.

But such calculations can go wrong because of a bad moment or session, as it happened in the 2023 World Cup final when India succumbed to Australia after a middling batting effort.

The Aussies themselves are without their premier pacers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. But the two-time champions still pack a punch as they have a batting unit to meet the demands of ODI format.

Once a feared white-ball team, England have slipped a few rungs as age and form have caught up with some of their leading performers.

But do the likes of Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Liam Livingstone have one last roar left in them? Or will some of their new stars such as Harry Brook or Ben Duckett cut open a new path? New Zealand are also travelling on fresh avenue following the retirement of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Kane Williamson is their trump card and the Kiwis would hope that he fires for them to earn their maiden white ball ICC trophy.

South Africa too will have a similar goal. They had won ICC Knockouts Trophy in 1998, but not bagged anything in recent times and the Temba Bavuma-led side will be hoping for a reversal of fortune.

But for that to happen, the Proteas should coat their minds with steel in crunch situations.

It’s applicable to Pakistan as well. If they can stop obsessing over the match against India and not treat it as the ‘final frontier’, then the home side is a dangerous opposition.

Their pace attack is top-notch and they have some batters like Fakhar Zaman and Salman Ali Agha who can turn on the heat on the rivals.

Afghanistan, who have transformed into a formidable white-ball outfit, also can put other teams under immense pressure through a squad that has Rashid Khan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Bangladesh now has receded to the periphery of cricketing consciousness, but can they pull of a stunner as they had done in the 2007 50-over World Cup? It would be a fitting tribute to a tournament that has already gone through several disruptions. So, let the play begin.

The Australian cricket team arrived in Pakistan on Monday to participate in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. The tournament begins with a match between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday. Pakistan are also the defending champions having won the last edition of the tournament in 2017 in the UK where they beat India in the title clash. “The Australian cricket team has arrived in Lahore for the @ICC #ChampionsTrophy 2025! They will play their first match of the tournament on 22 February against England at the Gaddafi Stadium,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) posted on X.

The Australian cricket team has arrived in Lahore for the @ICC #ChampionsTrophy 2025!

They will play their first match of the tournament on 22 February against England at the Gaddafi Stadium pic.twitter.com/mN7R07OyaE

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 17, 2025

The team landed in two separate groups. The first batch, which included captain Steve Smith, coaches, and support staff, arrived from Colombo via Dubai.

The second group, comprising 15 players and two additional members of the support staff, followed the same route and reached Lahore later the same day.

Like India, who will be playing all their matches in Dubai as per the hybrid model agreement, the Australian team will also not feature in any warm-up matches, as they were very recently involved in a two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, which they lost 2-0.

After their opener against traditional rivals England, Australia will play their second match against South Africa on February 25 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, followed by a final group-stage outing against Afghanistan on February 28, again at Gaddafi Stadium.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.

Sri Lanka spinner Dunith Wellalage took four wickets to give a hapless Australia their lowest ever total in Asia with a 174-run loss in Friday’s second and final ODI. Chasing a target of 282 in Colombo, a much-changed Australia testing their lineup for next week’s Champions Trophy were bundled out for a meager 107. The spectacular collapse saw them lose their last seven wickets for just 28 runs. “Not the best result we wanted. We used lot of players and everyone got a game,” Australia skipper Steve Smith said. 

“Credit to Sri Lanka. They deserved the series win. We struggled a bit in Colombo… Their bowlers were superb.”

Asitha Fernando set the tone with a fiery opening spell of 3-23 in four overs before the spinners tightened the screws.

Wellalage triggered the collapse, bamboozling Josh Inglis with a skiddy arm ball that crashed into the stumps. In his next over, he delivered another peach, rattling the dangerous Glenn Maxwell‘s timber to finish 4-35.

Wanindu Hasaranga joined the party from the other end to take three more including Smith, who was trapped plumb in front.

This emphatic victory sealed a 2-0 series win for Sri Lanka against the defending world champions and propelled them to fifth in the ODI rankings. 

It also told the cricketing world that Sri Lanka’s absence from the upcoming Champions Trophy, after finishing ninth in the 2023 World Cup, will be felt. 

“Not often you beat Australia,” Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said. 

“Today was our day and the spinners did a superb job,” he added. “We are disappointed that we are not in the Champions Trophy… the important thing is that we don’t get into a similar situation again.”

Sri Lanka’s batting had been under the microscope in recent weeks, but the top order silenced critics with a commanding display. 

Kusal Mendis was the star of the show, crafting a superb 101 — his fifth ton in ODIs and first against Australia. 

He found ample support from half-centuries by Nishan Madushka (51) and Asalanka. 

Fresh from a match-winning hundred in the opener, Asalanka bludgeoned an unbeaten 78 off just 66 balls, peppering the boundary with six fours and three towering sixes.

The foundation was laid by a 98-run partnership between Kusal and Madushka for the second wicket, stabilising the innings after an early loss. 

Kusal then built on the momentum, stitching a 94-run stand with Asalanka for the fourth wicket. 

Australia made five changes as they fine-tune their lineup ahead of next week’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai. 

Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Travis Head, Josh Inglis and Ben Dwarshuis all came in.

Out went Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne, Cooper Connolly, Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis.

Australia’s bid to win the Champions Trophy was a dealt a major setback Wednesday with their formidable pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood all ruled out. Cummins (ankle) and Hazlewood (side and calf) were always unlikely to play, but Starc has also withdrawn for personal reasons. Steve Smith will captain the team after standing in for Cummins during their two-Test thrashing of Sri Lanka this month. The 15-man squad is also without all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who retired from the 50-over game last week, and Mitchell Marsh who was previously omitted with a back issue.

“The squad has changed significantly over the past month on the back of some untimely injuries and the retirement of Marcus Stoinis,” said chief selector George Bailey.

“The upside of that is that we have been able to call on players who have had international exposure and success over the past 12 months. 

“A strong core of some our most experienced players will provide a strong foundation in our attempt to win this edition of the Champions Trophy,” he added. 

“We have a range of options to shape the playing XI within the tournament depending on the opposition and conditions we face.”

Starc was the only member of the “Big Three” fast bowling attack to play all seven Tests against India and Sri Lanka across the current Australian summer.

Bailey said he respected Starc’s decision, with the reasons for his withdrawal to remain private.

“Mitch is deeply respected for his commitment to international cricket and the priority he places on performing for Australia,” he said. 

“His loss is of course a blow for the Champions Trophy campaign but does provide an opportunity to someone else to make a mark on the tournament.”

Starc will also miss the two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting in Colombo later Wednesday.

The loss of Australia’s long-time pace attack has opened the door for the likes of Spencer Johnson, Nathan Ellis and Ben Dwarshuis.

Aaron Hardie takes over as the seaming all-rounder while emerging leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was included to complement Adam Zampa.

The eight-nation Champions Trophy, between February 19 and March 9, will be played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa

SL v AUS, 1st Test Day 4 LIVE Score Updates© AFP

Steve Smith has regained his mojo in Test cricket, with the Australia batter smashing his 36th century in the format on Day 1 of the 1st Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. During the same knock, Smith, who is leading Australia in the absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins, became only the fourth Australian to breach the landmark of 10,000 Tests runs. Former India batter Aakash Chopra has lauded Smith, who now stands at 10,140 runs at an average of 56.33 in 115 Tests.

Chopra pointed out that Smith now has five more Test centuries then Virat Kohli, despite the latter playing five more innings.

“Smith has scored a century (against Sri Lanka). He has struck his 35th century in just 205 innings. (Joe) Root has scored 36 hundreds but he has played 278 innings. So if you look at it in terms of the strike rate, the number of innings he takes to score a century, then Steve Smith is ahead of Joe Root,” said Chopra on his Youtube channel.

Chopra also highlighted that Kohli now has the worst average, in comparison to his Fab 4 contemporaries — Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson.

“If I see Virat Kohli here, he has played 210 innings, which means he has played five more innings than Steve Smith and has five centuries fewer than him. So Virat Kohli, unfortunately, now has the worst strike rate because he has scored only three centuries in the last five years,” Chopra added.

Meanwhile, Kohli endured a tough 2024. In 10 Tests last year, he scored just 417 runs at an average of 24.52 with just one century and fifty, to conclude a disappointing year.

He has been facing a massive decline in his Test performances that dates back to the start of 2020. In 39 Test matches since the start of 2020, Virat has scored just 2,028 runs at an average of 30.72, with just three centuries and nine fifties to show. His best score is 186.

(With ANI Inputs)

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.

After failing to do so in the 5th and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney, Australia stand-in skipper Steve Smith finally breached the 10,000-run milestone in Tests, on Day 1 of the first match against Sri Lanka. After completing 10k runs in the longest format of the game, Smith also brought up his 35th Test ton, 17 of which have come away from home. In doing so, Smith managed to surpass India great Virat Kohli in the list of batters with the most away centuries in Test cricket.

Kohli held the No. 1 spot, with 16 away tons to his name in Tests but lost the spot to Smith on Wednesday. 

Missing the chance to reach the mark in his home city of Sydney during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, Smith brought up the five-figure milestone in Australia’s first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, playing his signature flick toward mid-on, setting off for one before raising his bat to acknowledge the applause.

The moment was marked by an ovation from the Australian group.

Smith moved the score to 137/2 with the run, continuing Australia’s strong start after the tourists won the toss and elected to bat.

The 35-year-old has compiled his runs at an average of over 55, with Kumar Sangakkara the only batter beyond the 10,000 figure with a better return (57.40). He became the fifth fastest batter by innings to reach 10,000 Test runs.

The batter joins Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting as the fourth Australian to reach the mark.

After Smith, a famed member of the ‘Fab Four,’ added another feat to his name, Ponting feels the flamboyant batter he deserves to be considered the best player of his generation.

For Ponting, Smith’s numbers put a strong case for him being the best player of his generation ahead of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root.

“Is he the best player of his generation? It’s hard to argue against it. Joe Root is the other one now, and [Kane] Williamson’s record is outstanding as well. Joe’s last couple of years have elevated him right back up there, I think,” Seven commentator Ponting said as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald.

“Five or six years ago, when this big four emerged, with [Virat] Kohli being one of those as well, Joe was probably down near the bottom part of that because he hadn’t made the hundreds the other guys had made, but he’s made 19 hundreds in the past four years,” he added.

With ANI Inputs