The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will start from 19th February 2025. The first match will be Pakistan who are the hosts against New Zealand. There are 8 teams in the tournament. They will be divided into two groups of Four Teams. The final of the ICC Champions Trophy will be on 9th March 2025. Reaching the semi finals of the ICC Champions Trophy is a big honour for any team because they would have beaten the best of the best to qualify for the Top 4. The top 2 teams from the 2 groups that will qualify for the semi finals. Each team will play 3 league matches.

Potential semi finalists for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

1. India

The first contender for the semi finals of the ICC Champions Trophy is India. They are the best ODI team in the world. Their performance in the recent ICC tournaments has been exemplary. They won the ICC T20I World Cup 2024 and were the runners up in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. The Indian team is in red hot form. They beat England 3-0 in the recently concluded ODI series. India will play all their matches in Dubai and the pitch there will assist the spinners that India have taken.

The strengths of the Indian team are that they have the best batting line-up in the tournament. The openers are Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. At number 3 is Virat Kohli then Shreyas Iyer. KL Rahul follows then and then there is Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel. The spin bowling attack is one of the best as India has Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy. The only weakness could be the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.

2. South Africa

This is a team that has recently been very good in ICC tournaments. They were the runners up in the 2024 ICC T20I World Cup. They are probably the most destructive batting line-up where the batters can hit sixes at will. Recently they lost the tri series against Pakistan and New Zealand. They will play their matches in Pakistan and due to their recent familiarity they can be title contenders.

South Africa have an excellent batting line-up. They have the exciting Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram. They also have David Miller, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen as well as Tristan Stubbs in the middle order. South Africa have an all round bowling attack as they have Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen as the fast bowlers. They also have Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi as the spin bowling options. Their weakness is that they are not able to win the big matches. They have the team for all pitches and conditions.

3. England

England are a team that have had a mixed bag of performances in ODI Cricket. They are a team that redefined ODI Cricket and won the 2019 ODI World Cup. However they did poorly in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20I World Cup. They will play their matches in Pakistan and they will always be contenders heading into an ICC tournament. The England team were recently demolished by India 3-0 in an ODI series.

The England team has batters that can turn any tournament on its head. They have Jos Buttler as the captain. They have Phil Salt and Ben Duckett as the openers. Harry Brook can hit big sixes. They have an excellent fast bowling attack with Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse. England has Adil Rashid who is one of the best leg spinners in the world. Their weakness is that they are not playing good ODI Cricket at the moment but they can turn it around in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

4. New Zealand

The fourth team most likely to enter the semi finals of the ICC Champions Trophy is New Zealand. Everyone does not take them as contenders but they always reach the semi finals of every ICC tournament. New Zealand recently won the tri series featuring Pakistan and South Africa. This will give them the confidence for the ICC Champions Trophy.

New Zealand has players that can do the job for the team. They have Mitchell Santner as the captain who is a proper all rounder. They have Will Young and Kane Williamson at the Top of the order. Rachin Ravindra is there to provide solidity. They have good all rounders such as Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell. Their bowling attack is well rounded. They have Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, William ORourke. New Zealand has only one weakness that they are not able to win the knockout matches of the ICC tournaments.

Dark Horses and Potential Upsets

The teams that can be the dark horses of the tournament are a few.

Australia are a team that have been hampered with a lot of injuries and other big players pulling out. Still they are a team that can surprise in this tournament. Steve Smith is the captain and they have Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa as the game changers. 


Pakistan can also be the dark horses of the tournament. They are the hosts and they will have the home support. Pakistan have Mohammed Rizwan as the captain. They also have Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman as batters who can win matches. Fast bowlers such as Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah can win matches for Pakistan. They are in an easier group as compared to Australia.

Predictions and Final Verdict

The top four semi finalists based on all the analysis are India, South Africa, England and New Zealand.

The potential game changers of this tournament could be Afghanistan. They are a team that have risen through the ranks and the pitches in Pakistan should suit their kind of play. Bangladesh are the underdogs of this tournament as they are a team that has not played good cricket but ok their day they can beat any team. Every team has 15 players and they have taken into consideration the possibility of injuries happening throughout the tournament. The replacements will be available as and when needed.

Conclusion

The teams that have the best chance of winning the ICC Champions Trophy are India who will be the favourites. New Zealand are a team that can also win based on their recent form in Pakistan. The fans are encouraged to engage in their own predictions and discuss the four semi finalists of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.