Champions Trophy to kick off without opening ceremony

ISLAMABAD: There will be no opening ceremony for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, following the late arrival of two participating teams, details reveal.

While the opening ceremony was never officially confirmed, reports earlier indicated it was on the cards.

According to well-informed sources in the International Cricket Council (ICC), the arrival schedules provided by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) to the ICC turned out to be the main reason behind no official ceremony.

England are due to arrive in Lahore on February 18, while Australian team is set to land on February 19. Meanwhile, Bangladesh and India are scheduled to reach Dubai on February 15, whereas Afghanistan will reach Islamabad on February 12. New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa will already be in Pakistan after competing in a tri-nation ODI series in Lahore and Karachi from February 8 to 14.

The opening match between Pakistan and New Zealand is scheduled in Karachi on February 19.

The sources explained that England have chosen to take a break of one week following their month-long tour of India for the white-ball series, which will conclude on February 12, while Australia, which are involved in a two-Test and two-ODI series in Sri Lanka, will finish their assignment in Colombo on February 14 before taking a four-day rest en route to Lahore.

“While the ICC and the PCB had shown interest in organising the opening ceremony, the arrival schedules of England and Australia teams, taking into consideration their players’ workload management, make it impossible to hold any event before the start of the tournament,” an ICC source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The News.

The source also confirmed that due to the late arrivals, both England and Australia have opted out of warm-up matches. Each team is entitled to two warm-up games, but both have agreed to enter the tournament without any practice matches, as they will have just concluded their respective ODI series.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said plan for the opening ceremony was discussed internally and with the ICC, but no detail or schedule was released or announced publicly. “We never confirmed an opening ceremony, as this was neither officially scheduled nor it was confirmed by the ICC. It was always a work in progress,” a PCB source explained.

The PCB also reiterated that it had expressed interest in an opening ceremony but clarified that this was never finalised as the event was subject to clearance from the ICC relating to the teams’ logistical arrangements. “While we had expressed our desire to host an opening event, it was always clear that any such ceremony would require the participation of all teams, which, given the current arrival schedules, is not possible,” the PCB source concluded.

Pakistan will host at least 10 matches of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, while Dubai will host three matches involving India and the first semi-final. If India do not qualify for the March 9 final, the match will take place at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Otherwise, the final will be held in Dubai.